The Power of a Phoenix
by Lleayn
Summary: New faces. New places. New adventures. When Kai goes missing, everyone's first thought is the same. BioVolt. But with Rei in the hospital and Kai nowhere to be found, has the gang met their match? COMPLETE!
1. Shot Down

Hey peeps! This is my first real attempt at a beyblade fic so any constructive critisizm is welcome. Im not going to beg you for reviews like some writers, but if you see something wrong or right with my writing, feel free to review me.

I would like to stress that this fic is **NON YAOI! **See, I put it in bold print so it will draw your attention! waves goodbye to all the Yaoi lovers clicking on the cancel program button this has only friendship in it, and maybe Rei/Mariah later on. Im not sure yet.

There will be a fluffy moment between Tala and Kai though. I know what you're thinking. What is Tala doing in the first chapter and why is the time that he is in the chapter fluffy? Well, all of you Tala lovers(myself being one) can stop drooling for now because its in a flashback. I do plan on putting Tala in the story more later on though.

Happy reading!

Rei 

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Dawn smiled upon the Granger Dojo amidst the warm weekend morning. The sun hung high in the sky, it's scalding fires warming the earth.

Ajisais, Azalias, and Unknown Beauties bloomed in various assortments of colors around the garden. In the middle of the arrangement of flowers sat a small pond, Koi carp swimming frantically under the lilies that infested the water. Wavy patterns danced across the polished wood of the dojo house created by the gleam of the sun's rays on the pond's surface.

Beautiful Japanese birds fluttered above the dojo's garden before landing on a stone or tree branch, folding their wings like colorful kimonos around their tiny bodies. Their mellifluous voices echoed through the yard as they sang for the joy of summer.

"LET IT RIP!" A white flash zoomed across the gravel in the front of the house, kicking up tiny pebbles as it flew by.

"Go Dragoon!" The beyblade sped for a Japanese angelic tree growing nearby. Despite the shouts and commands emitting from it's master to curve to the left, it continued on the same path. A splintering crack sounded as the spinning metal collided with the trunk, causing a flock of Narcissus flycatchers that were perched in the tree's branches to scatter.

So much for the morning tranquility.

Once the dust cleared, Tyson Granger could see his beyblade lodged in the tree's bark, spinning slightly before finally stopping and falling to the ground with a _clunk._

"Aw, man," he sighed, bending down to pick his beyblade up out of the wood splinters. "Hey, guys, do you think Dragoon's sick?" Tyson turned his beyblade over with his fingers, checking it over in case something was wrong with it.

"Don't be silly Tyson, bitbeasts don't get sick." Max stopped for a moment, thinking his answer over. "Do bitbeasts get sick?" He turned to Rei, who shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with your bitbeast Tyson, it's your brain that's malfunctioning," spat Kai.

Tyson stared at him for a minute, trying to remember the definition of malfunctioning. "Hey!" he whined once he had remembered.

Sitting on the edge of the dojo's porch, Rei, Max and Kenny laughed quietly at Tyson's current lapse in brain activity.

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Tyson, you're relying on your blade to do all the work for you. A bitbeast feeds off the blader's energy. You're going to have to meet Dragoon halfway, because if you decide to act stupid, he's going to do the same thing."

"Are you saying I'm dumb!" huffed Tyson.

"I didn't say that," explained Kai, a rather large hint of annoyance in his voice. "What I am saying is that if you don't start acting more serious with your blading and train harder, then Dragoon's going to see no reason to listen to you."

"Hmph, what makes you think I need to train harder?"

Kai walked over to the cracked tree trunk and motioned to the hole imbedded in the bark. "Exhibit A."

Tyson just snorted and planted a large pout on his face. "You're just jealous because you lost your match in the tournament and I became world champion."

"I didn't say that either," said Kai through clenched teeth.

"You didn't have to. Ever since the first time I beat you you've just been green with envy, haven't you?"

"Tyson, I don't think jealousy is the issue here. You have been really off with your blading ever since the championships," intervened Rei.

"Oh sure take his side, since you're both so perfect!"

"Tyson, knock it off! You're acting like a big baby!"

"Why should I listen to you Kai, huh? Give me one good reason!"

"Because _I'm _your captain!"

"Oh, so just because you're the captain you're always right? Well, lets' recount shall we? Rejoining BioVolt: that idea was a winner. Battling us at Lake Baikal and nearly killing yourself: a brilliant decision, that one was. And, to top it all off, using Black Dranzer in the championships and nearly blowing the whole tournament for us: good going Kai."

"You don't know shit about any of that Tyson so don't pretend you do!"

"Then you stop pretending like you're better than everyone else, 'cause you're not!"

"Tyson, you'd better shut up or I'll—

"You'll what Kai? Beat me up? Or were you thinking of calling up your abbey friends to come and pound on me? Well, I hate to tell you this, but they're off kissing Boris's feet right now so—

Tyson was silence when something hard punched him in the cheek so fast he didn't even have time to blink. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground that just second ago he had been standing on. Hr looked up to see an extremely angry looking Kai standing over him with one hand balled up into a fist. Rage swirled around in the black depths of his scarlet eyes.

"You don't know anything Tyson!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "You don't know anything about BioVolt, Boris, the Demolition Boys or me!"

Rei, Max and Kenny rushed over to help Tyson stand up. He swatted them away and stood himself to face Kai. His left hand was on his cheek, which was turning a blackish-purple color, and the other hand was clenched.

"Is that how you treat your team Kai, by hurting them?"

"Is that how you treat _your _team, by harassing them?

"At least I don't cause my team pain!" Tyson retorted.

A noticeable change came over Kai. His muscles became less tense and his features softened slightly. He unclenched his right fist and let it drop to the side. An emotion flashed through his eyes for a split second, before disappearing and being replaced with anger again. But Tyson caught it while it was there. The others must have to, because they began exchanging glances from behind. The emotion that had appeared just as fast as it had gone was one that none of them had ever seen Kai use. He looked…hurt?"

"There are more types of pain than just physical, Tyson. You remember that," he said softly before turning around and walking out of the dojo's yard.

Tyson couldn't move. His whole body screamed at him to do something, to run after him to stop him from leaving, or yell at him to come back. It seemed that his body had lost it's ability to function. He just stood there with his mouth open, eyes fixed on the spot that Kai had been. He had…hurt…Kai? Just for talking about BioVolt.

'_Talking? Give me a break. You totally trashed him. I'd say you've earned that bruise,' _said a voice in his head.

'_Shut up,' _he told the voice.

He shook off his guilt just in time to hear his teammates calling after their captain. Once Kai had disappeared from view, they all turned around to face Tyson, Each one glaring with everything they had (except Kenny, 'cause you really never see his eyes).

"What?"

They all held their glares, narrowing their eyes slightly at Tyson's incompetence.

"Nice going Tyson!" yelled Max. "You have just succeeded in royally pissing off our captain! Again!"

"Oh come on Max. A twig could piss that guy off," insisted Tyson, although his mind kept telling him otherwise.

"Tyson, you acted like a jerk! You stuck your nose into things that you had no clue about, and then trashed them! I wouldn't be surprised if he quits the team!"

"I can only hope Rei."

"Oh knock it off already. You know you were out of line Tyson. Just admit it so we can get on with our lives!"

"I was out of line! You don't think he was out of line by punching him in the face!

"I have to side with Kai on this one Tyson. You deserved what you got," agreed Kenny.

"Not you too chief."

"Kenny's right. He had every reason to sock you one," Max agreed.

Tyson looked around at his friends. Rei's amber eyes were still locked on him, anger ever present in his gaze. The cheerfulness had left Max's features, replaced with a mix of the same anger he had seen in Rei's eyes, and sadness. The parts of Kenny's face that you could actually see behind his tuffs of brown hair looked as though he was just as P'Od as the others.

"So all of you have turned against me too? Well fine! I don't care." With that he turned around and stomped back into the dojo.

Once Tyson had left they all let out a huge sigh of frustration.

"So, what do we do now?" Max turned to look at Rei. He looked extremely tired, but Max knew that it was emotions more than anything.

"I think we should just cool it for a while. We'll let Tyson down, and if Kai isn't back by nightfall, I'll go look for him."

The others nodded in agreement, then followed Tyson inside.

-meanwhile-

Kai walked down the strip of docks at the pier. He could never put his finger on why he always went there when he was mad. The movement of the waves and the sound of the ocean just seemed to soothe him for some reason.

The soft sea breeze blew through his cobalt hair as he continued to walk along the pier, trying to find a spot with no people and no boats. He could hear the creaking of the rotting wood under his feet as he walked, softened by the elements. There was little activity, seeing as it was getting too late for ships to make birth. There were a few cargo ships being unloaded and a sailboat or two, but other than that practically nothing.

Kai finally found a place that suited him and leaned on the railing of the pier. He concentrated his gaze on the ocean, watching the waves crash into the harbor. He glanced quickly at the sun. From it's position in the sky, he guessed that it was about 7:00. That gave him two hours at the most before the cavalry arrived.

Kai thought back to earlier that day when and Tyson had had the fight. He was pretty sure Tyson had seen his inner barriers fall for the brief moment that they did, judging by the look on his face when he had left. It wasn't really what Tyson had said that had hurt him; he could care less what he thought. But that particular fight had stirred painful memories inside him, memories that Kai had tried to keep locked up for so long. Tyson didn't understand why the Demolition Boys had done what they had done. He didn't understand that they hadn't had a choice in the matter. That's why Kai had hit him. Tyson had no right to say those things. Tala, Brian, Ian and Spencer had been some of his best friends at the abbey, especially Tala. He probably would have died if it hadn't been for Tala…

-flashback-

_Thunder and lightning danced across the sky. Purple clouds billowed above, crying for a lost soul. A five year old Kai was kneeling on the muddy ground, soaked with rain. He had been sitting in the same position for hours, not caring about the consequences he was going to be presented with when he returned to the abbey. _

_He seemed to be kneeling next to a mound of dirt(or in this case, mud). Closer inspection showed a tiny plank of wood imbedded in the ground next to the mound. Lightning flash again and, if only for a moment, made it possible to read the tiny plank. _

**Stephania Hiwatari **

**1986-1993 **

_The crude handwriting suggested that a child had made the grave marker, most likely Kai himself. _

_Kai heard footsteps sloshing through the mud towards him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for what he thought was a BioVolt employee to drag him back to the abbey. But instead of feeling rough hands wrap around his tiny body, he felt a small hand lightly touch his thin shoulder. _

"_Kai…" the owner of the hand said softly. _

"_Tala…" he whispered back. He shifted his eyes to meet the red heads own blue ones. "What do you want?" _

"_I want to help you Kai," he answered. "You haven't eaten in over two weeks, you're not paying any attention to the instructors, and if you keep disobeying Boris then he's going to beat you to death." _

_Kai looked back at his sister's grave. "I want to die Tala. I've got no reason to live anymore." Tears began streaming down his cheeks(_of course since it was raining you couldn't tell the difference._). "He killed her Tala. He killed his own granddaughter. She was all I had left and he killed her!" He held his head in his hands, sobs racking his small frame. "Just let me die." _

"_NO!" Tala wrapped his arms around Kai and embraced him in a hug. "Please Kai, I don't want you to die!" Sobs now shook his own body. "You're my best friend." _

"_Tala— _

"_Don't throw your life away Kai. She wouldn't have wanted that." _

_Kai just stared at him for a moment, contemplating his decision of death. He remembered when he had found Stephania's body dead and bloody on the floor of the dungeon. He thought of the same image again, only his body was on the floor and Tala walked in to find him dead. He returned Tala's hug. _

"_I'm sorry Tala," he sobbed into his shoulder, his voice slightly muffled. "I'm so sorry." _

-end flashback-

Kai had decided there, sitting in the mud in the middle of a thunderstorm, that he would live not for his own sake, but for Tala's. He wasn't going to cause his best friend the same pain that he had felt when Stephania had died.

Kai let out an exasperated sigh. Today was turning out to be an extremely complicated day. As if his inner turmoil wasn't enough to torture him, memories had to keep popping up too. If his life continued on this emotional rollercoaster, he just might have to resort to seeking professional counseling.

'_Ha, like any shrink's going to be able to help me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a lost cause.' _

-Granger Dojo, two hours later-

Night had befallen the Granger Dojo, the moon full and hanging brightly in the star speckled sky(try saying that ten times fast! I know I did. On the tenth time it sounded something like shar shpeckled sty.). An uneasy silence had settled inside the dojo, making everyone uncomfortable. No one had said a word since the fight that morning. Tyson sat on the couch fiddling with his beyblade, his brow knotted together in frustration. Max was sitting next to him, staring down at his hands in his lap. Kenny was off typing somewhere, where somewhere was, no one quite knew. Rei was standing next to the window, arms crossed over his chest, staring into the dark.

Kai had been gone for nearly 12 hours straight, and Rei had to admit that he was impressed at his raw determination to avoid anywhere within a five mile radius of Tyson. He wasn't happy about the dispute between the two bladders, but it was hard not to admire the kind of drive it took to avoid someone for so long. Of course, it was probably more arrogance than determination that kept Kai away. That and the fact that Tyson could be a royal pain in the ass sometimes.

'_Anyway,' _Rei thought, _'it's getting late. I should probably go look for Kai now.' _

He leaned away from the window and walked in front of the couch. "It's getting late you guys. I'm going to go look for Kai."

Max continued to stare at his hands, but Tyson spoke for the first time since that morning, although what he had to say was rather rude.

"When you find him, tell him not to hurry back."

"You don't mean that Tyson."

"Yeah I do!" he insisted. "Kai's punches hurt! I'd like to stay as far away from his fist as humanly possible if you don't mind."

"Actually, I do mind. You know as well as I do that Kai had a good reason to punch you Tyson. You said some pretty nasty things."

"Well I'm sick of him acting like he's always right and telling me what to do and criticizing me all the time!"

"Tyson, he's the _captain_. He's supposed to criticize you. When you do something wrong he's supposed to help you fix it. Sure he's pretty hard-core, but a little discipline wouldn't hurt you." Max said.

"Well I understand the discipline thing, but what was I doing wrong?"

"Considering your current state of denial, I'm going to let the tree answer that question." Rei pointed outside to the tree that Tyson had succeeded in drilling a hole into.

Tyson let out a large sigh. You just couldn't pit facts against pride. The cold hard truth was that his blading had sucked that morning. Kai tried to give him advice and what did he do?' He got jealous. He just couldn't stand the fact that Kai was right about the whole thing, that he wasn't doing his part by focusing and giving something back to Dragoon. Then he had accused Kai of being jealous of him.

"I guess you guys are right. It's just that, I'm supposed to be the world champion of beyblading. What's wrong with me? Why wouldn't Dragoon listen to me?"

"Well, like Kai said, you weren't meeting him halfway. Plus, I think that fame has gotten to your head Tyson. Maybe Dragoon's trying to tell you something."

"You think so Rei?"

"Yeah. All you need to do is stop acting like such a hothead and Dragoon will go back to normal. And when I say hothead, I mean that in the best possible way."

Tyson laughed softly at Rei's attempt to avoid confrontation. He guessed the fight him and Kai had had was more than enough for Rei. Tyson couldn't help but agree with him.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry about earlier. I was out of control."

"Tyson."

"Ok, I was way out of control."

"Tyson!"

"Alright Alright! I went totally and completely insane, are you happy now!"

A catlike spread across Rei's face. "Yep."

"Well, now that that's been straightened out, maybe go back to looking for Kai, Rei," Max suggested.

"You're right. I'll see you guys later." Rei turned and began to walk out of the living room.

"Hey Rei?" Rei stopped and looked back at Tyson.

"When you find him, tell him to hurry back."

Rei smiled. "Sure thing."

-the pier-

Rei found Kai leaning against the edge of the pier's railing, watching the moonlight reflect off the water and the tiny waves roll into shore. Rei wasn't sure why he had looked for Kai here. It just seemed like every time Kai had walked out to be alone, they always found him near water.

Now that Rei had found him, all he had to do was convince him to come back and forgive Tyson. Easier said than done. _'Well,'_ he thought, _'here goes nothing.' _

Kai heard footsteps coming towards him and guessed that one of his teammates had come to get him. He knew it wasn't Max, and it defiantly wasn't Tyson. Kenny rarely got involved in his business so that ruled him out. _'It must be Rei,' _he thought. He was thankful for that. Rei was always to talk to than the others. He never put pressure on him and didn't bug him when he didn't want to talk. And when he talked with Rei, it actually felt like he was listening. Maybe that's because he was.

Rei walked up to the wooden railing and leaned next to Kai. "So," he began, "are you okay?"

He didn't answer. Not that Rei had expected him to. Kai wasn't exactly what you would call talkative. In fact, he was the exact opposite. Kai was famous for what people called his 'lone wolf attitude.' Rei figured that was why he was so distant; he didn't open up to them at all. Sometimes he went whole days without talking.

Rei sighed and stared at the knots and cracks in the wood of the rail, waiting to see if Kai would answer. Minutes ticked by and he gave up on getting Kai to talk.

"I didn't mean to hit Tyson."

Rei started at the sudden voice. He turned to face Kai, who was still staring out at sea.

"He didn't mean to hurt you Kai."

"He didn't hurt me." Turning to see the disbelieving look on Rei's face, he continued. "Not really anyway. It's just…" Kai trailed off and turned his attention back towards the water.

"It's just that sometimes, words slip out that bring up things that are painful for you to remember, and you just get so mad at hurt by the memories that you loose yourself," Rei finished.

Kai turned his head to look at Rei again, eyes widened slightly. "How did you know?"

Rei shrugged. "S' happened to me before. I didn't hit Tyson though, but I doubt that my memories are as intense as yours."

"What makes you think that?"

Rei stared back down at the railing. "I don't know. You just don't show what you're feeling when you're around us, and when Tyson said all that stuff about BioVolt… I've just never seen so much emotion come from you before. I figured that for you to express yourself in front of us like that, you must have experienced some pretty bad things."

Kai stated at Rei in slight awe. The fact of the matter was, Rei was right. He was more than right actually. He had hit the nail so hard on the head that it had gone straight through the board.

"You know something Rei?"

"What's that?"

"You have an uncanny ability to read people, even people like me."

Rei smiled. After all, how many times in your life did Kai give you a compliment? "Thanks Kai."

"Hn."

Rei's smile got bigger. That was Kai alright. Give him a 'thank you' and he'll give you a 'hn.'

Kai suddenly went on guard. Hid muscles tensed and his eyes grew concentrated. They darted back and forth using his perifrial vision to see from side to side. Rei, noticing the changes, faced him, worry etched into his features. When Kai sensed that something was wrong, there usually was.

"Kai what's— Rei was stopped when Kai covered his mouth with his hand.

"Shhh…"

And then he heard it. The faint _click_ of a car door closing.

"Run," Kai whispered.

"Wha—

"Run!"

Kai pushed Rei forward. He obeyed Kai's order and began running. He could hear Kai's footsteps behind him, along with several others. The owners of the footsteps were shouting frantically in a language he couldn't understand.

Rei felt himself slam face down into the pavement. He wondered what could of possibly tripped him, until he felt the weight of someone else on top of him. Someone had tackled him. Judging by the thud that he heard behind him moments later, he guessed that Kai had been tackled to the ground also.

He struggled against the several arms pinning him down, desperately trying to get free to help Kai, but the grips held.

Kai was doing the same thing, only he was trying to get free to help Rei. There was only one difference. Kai got out.

Kai broke free of the five sets of arms that had been holding him down. He ran towards the struggling Rei, ready to spring on the men holding him down, when one of them picked Rei up by his throat and lifted him 10 inches of the ground.

"Take another step and he dies." To prove his point, the man tightened his grip on Rei's neck, cutting of his air. Kai stopped so fast that he almost fell forward.

Despite the fact that he was being hung up by his throat by a man who most likely wouldn't loose any sleep over killing him, Rei looked around at the several men who had ambushed them. Through his blurring vision he could see the letters 'BV' printd on the men's shirts. BV. It was only two letters but Rei knew what they meant. BioVolt. These men had come to take Kai back to the abbey.

The BioVolt men took advantage of Kai's lapse in concentration and pinned him to the ground again. Kai did next to nothing to stop them, as Rei was still suspended in the air by the neck. One false move, and they wouldn't hesitate to snap his neck in two. The men bound his hands behind his back despite his lack of struggling, just in case he did try to make a break for it.

Rei tried to call out to Kai, to tell him to just forget about him and run, but a choking noise was the only sound that came out. Even if he had managed to say the words, Kai wouldn't have listened. Rei knew that he wouldn't of listened had their places been switched.

Once they were sure that Kai wasn't going anywhere, the men began to talk amongst themselves.

"What should we do with this one Viktor?" asked the man holding Rei in Russian.

Viktor thought for a moment. "He knows too much Adrik. You know what to do," he replied, also in Russian.

Adrik nodded and let go of Rei's neck, causing him to fall to the ground with a _thud_. He got up on his hands and knees, gasping for air, and massaged his neck, which was turning a purple color.

Adrik lifted him to his feet and locked his arms under Rei's. He struggled to get free, but no avail. The man was too strong.

Kai, who was still pinned to the ground, widened his scarlet eyes when he noticed Victor begin to pull something out of his belt. The reason his eyes widened was because of the glint of moonlight reflecting off of the barrel of a gun.

"REI, LOOK OUT!"

But it was too late. The bullet exploded out of the barrel and began ripping through the air towards Rei.

The bullet entered Rei's upper abdomonen, a gasp escaping from his lips when the bullet impacted. A red stain immediately blossomed through Rei's white shirt. Adrik let go of him, again, and Rei fell forward.

For Kai, it seemed like everything was going in slow motion. He watched in horror as Rei fell forward and hit the hard ground, his skin deathly pale and a puddle of blood forming under his still form.

"REI!"

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RT: Goodness gracious golly gosh! Is Rei going to be ok? Only I know the answer to that. You will just have to stick around to find out!

Rei: You actually shot me! Flame her! She's evil!

RT: Oh, shut up! Its my fic and I will do what ever I want! And If you don't behave I might have to kill you! That gun is still fully loaded!

Rei:cowers in fear of my sadist writing abilitys

RT: he's right though, I am evil! laughs meniaclly

Anyway, I hated writing that fluffy thing between Tala and Kai. It was so corny! Cringes at having to write fluffy crap Again this will be **NON YAOI **so I don't want any requests to turn this into a yaoi fic, because I will simply not listen to them.

Stick around for the next chapter! I have some evil things in store for Rei and Kai!


	2. You win a few, you lose a lot

Oboskiwatntaten everyone! (Please don't ask what Oboskiwatntaten means) I have some evil things in store for our favorite Beyblade bishies! I hope you enjoy it!

Rei: Why do you have to be so sadistic! Can't you just go back to the asylum where you belong!

RT: Will you just get out of here already! Shesh!

Anyway, I would like to thank my reviews! Huggles to all of you!

**Shizuka-Yuki:** lol!

**Kenthomas: **i'm glad you like it. And I promise that I won't take that long to update.

**Kuro1107: **Thank you so much!

**Death Fox: **I know what you mean. Sometimes, I swear that half of this website is yaoi. I mean, I've read a few good yaoi stories, but seriously….

**Bruna Aguino: **Im glad you like my non yaoi concept. Even if I was a big fan of yaoi and tried to write a yaoi story, it would probably suck. So I can honestly say that you don't have to worry about this story becoming yaoi, because it never will be.

**LiahWoodsKainTalalover: **Simply stunning, hmmmm, no one has ever said that to me before! Thanks! And I agree. Why can't they just leave poor Kai alone! What am I saying? If BioVolt wasn't so obsessive about Kai, id have no story! I must admit though, deep down, I feel very bad for our poor bishies. Deep, deeeeeep down. Not that I am like a freaky sadistic phycomaniac or anything, Its just fun to torture them!(That sounded bad didn't it) Oh well!

**Glitter-Cat91: **It is nice to get away from the yaoi craziness sometimes. People really should write more non yaoi, or I swear that one day, slash is just going to take over!

**Tears of Eternal Darkness: **You're on my favorite list! Sorry about the cliffy, I just couldn't resist. Thanks for the review!

**Chocolate-Chan:** Also sorry bout the cliffy. I was going to make chapter 1 and chapter 2 into one big chapter, but I just couldn't resist making it a cliffy.

Once again, thank you for the reviews! I love each and every one!(more review responses after the chapter.)

Now, on with chapie number two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

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"Rei!" No movement came over Rei's body, and Kai was beginning to fear the worst.

'_No! He's not dead! Don't even think about something like that! He's not dead!' _No matter how many times Kai repeated that to himself, a nagging deep down inside of him refused to go away. _'He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead…' _The nagging seemed to grow bigger and bigger with each letter, until he could no longer fight it off anymore. _'No…no, no, no, no, NO!' _

"Rei!" Nothing. Not one sign that he was even still alive. The men began to chuckle in amusement at Kai's internal suffering.

"Face it kid, he ain't coming back." Kai ignored them. No matter what his instincts told him, he knew that somehow, he had to be alive. Rei wouldn't give up without a fight.

"Rei! Rei, wake up! Rei! REI!"

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"_Rei! Rei, wake up! Rei! REI!" _

The words sounded funny to Rei, like he was hearing them underwater. Who was calling him?

"_REI!" _

'_Is that…Kai? What's wrong with him? What happened? Where am I?" _

Then, he remembered. He remembered the fight that Kai and Tyson had, and finding him a whole 12 hours later at the pier. He remembered BioVolt ambushing them and …being shot. He remembered falling, and then…darkness.

'_Wait a minute, am I dead?' _He tried to move, but the only response that his body gave him was a huge wave of excruciating pain. _'Nope, still alive.' _

"_Rei!" _

'_Why does he sound so far away? Are we still at the pier?' _He tried to open his eyes, to look around, but found that he couldn't. The only sense that seemed to be working was his hearing, and even that was starting to fade. He tried to do anything, to move or do something to show Kai that he was still alive. Then… he felt his finger move. It wasn't much, but it was a start. At least it would be enough to show Kai that he wasn't dead yet. After all, how many dead people can move their fingers? He could only pray that Kai was looking in his direction when he had moved. If not, Rei's only chance at survival might be lost.

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"Rei—

Kai was silenced by a kick in the side that temporarily knocked the wind out of him.

"That's enough! Stop your whining!"

Kai laid there for a moment, still pinned to the ground, and tried to regain breath before looking back in Rei's direction. Nothing seemed to have changed…wait a minute! There, on Rei's left hand, his index finger moved slightly. He was alive! Kai inwardly thanked heaven before continuing his struggle to get free. Rei might have been alive, but he needed to get to a hospital and fast. If not, he could bleed to death.

Kai might have been a match for the 10 men that had ambushed him if not for the fact that his hands were tied behind his back and that they had guns on their side. Even so, there had to be something he could do.

"Viktor, what do you want us to do with the kid? He's going to get free if this keeps up."

"Gag him and load him in the van. We've spent enough time here."

The man nodded and Kai felt something that tasted extremely nasty being shoved into his mouth. He fought them as hard as he could, but no avail. When your hands are tied behind your back and there are five people pinning you, the odds usually favor the people who actually have movement still left in their arms. Tape was placed over his mouth, and one of the men gave a thumbs up.

"What about the other one?" asked Adrik.

Viktor smiled. "A body is evidence. Get ride of him."

Adrik smiled also. He picked up Rei and began walking over to the edge of the pier. Kai's eyes widened and he began struggling furiously again. He yelled out, but his screams were muffled by the gag in his mouth. Another sharp kick in the side reminded him to shut up and hold still.

Adrik continued walking until he got to the edge of the railing. He held Rei out over the water, and looked back at Kai. "Say das vidanya." He released his hold on Rei and dropped him into the salty ocean. (Rei: Oh my God! First you shoot me and then you throw me off the fricken pier! RT: Oh shut up and get back in the fic!")

Kai's muffled yells could again be heard through the gag again. _'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! What am I going to do now!' _

"What now!" asked one of the men as he was trying to hold down the struggling Kai.

"Sedate him for Gods sake and let's get the hell out of here!" spat Viktor.

The man nodded in understanding and drew a sedative out of his belt. Kai continued to struggle. If they sedated him, Rei would loose his last chance of living. His thrashing delayed the sedation, but couldn't stop it. Kai felt the cold metal of the needle pierce his arm and the warm liquid flow through his veins. The sedative was extremely strong and Kai could feel its effects begin to take hold of him immediately.

'_Dammit! This is just great! Stupid sedative! Leave it to Voltaire to give his cronies potentially dangerous chemicals.' _

Kai felt his senses begin to shut down and his limbs became heavy. A few seconds later it took all of his remaining energy just to keep his eyes open. He heard muffled voices all around him, but couldn't make out what they meant. Then, he felt a pair of muscled arms hoist him of the ground and carry him away.

'_No! They can't take me away! I have to stay here and help Rei! Sedative or no sedative, I'm not letting them take me before I help Rei!' _

His mind screamed at his body to move, but his body seemed to be ignoring him. He managed some movement, but not enough to get free. He could faintly hear the person that was carrying him laugh at his failing struggles. He shut the noise out. He wasn't going to let his grandfather win.

Kai felt himself being thrown roughly into what he guessed was the black van that the BioVolt men had drove to the pier. And suddenly Kai realized that he wasn't going to escape this time. Voltaire had won, and he wasn't going to let Kai get away once he got his hands on him. But Kai didn't care about that. He didn't care what they did to him. What he did care about was that Rei could possibly be dead right now and there was nothing he could do about it.

The car began to vibrate and slowly move forward before accelerating to a speed that was most defiantly not the speed limit. Kai began racking his brain for options. He wasn't going to stay conscious much longer and needed to think of something before it was too late. The van made a sharp turn and Kai was slammed into the car door from the sudden inertia. He felt something hard slam against his hip when he made contact with the door. He thought for a moment about what could have possibly slammed into him, besides the door that is. And then he remembered. With his remaining strength he weakly moved a shaky hand to his side pocket, which was pretty difficult considering his hands were still tied. He pulled out what looked to be a small cell phone.

'_Yes! I'm glad Kenny talked me into buying this! It could help save Rei.' _

He knew he couldn't call an ambulance since he couldn't actually talk into the phone, but maybe he could text message Kenny's laptop. He used his thumb to push the power button, praying that the volume wasn't on. When he didn't hear any sound emit from the tiny cell phone, he figured that it was safe to continue. He pushed what he thought was the button for text messaging (since the phone was behind his back and he couldn't see what he was doing) and began pushing the different number buttons to create a message for Kenny to read.

He barely had enough time to push the send button before dropping the phone and slipping into oblivion.

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Rei could feel himself floating, although he didn't know exactly what he was floating in. The last thing he could remember was falling through the air. Where was he? And how did he get there? Rei slowly opened his clouded amber eyes. All he could see was black. But, it seemed like the black was moving, flowing even. Like it was…water! It was then that Rei tried to inhale, only to choke on a mouthful of salt water. He could see bubbles float to the surface from his attempt to breath. He was underwater. And not just any water, but salt water. That meant that someone had thrown him off the pier.

'_So that's the falling feeling that I felt,' _he thought.

Rei tried to move so that he could swim to the surface before he drowned, but stopped when he felt a lightning bolt of pain strike his body. His eyes scrunched up in pain as he waited for it to pass. Once his body was somewhat relaxed again, he opened his eyes and focused on getting to shore. There was only one way, and that was to swim. If he didn't, he would either drown or any sharks that ventured close to shore would smell his blood and come after him.

With that thought in mind, he kicked his legs and began swimming for the surface. The pain was devastating, and his lack of air was making him even more dizzy than before. But he couldn't let that stop him. Kai needed help just as much as he did. He knew what Voltaire was capable of, and he also knew that he wouldn't hesitate in killing Kai if the opportunity arose.

Rei could see the water's color become more light and clear, and soon his head was breaking the surface and he was taking in huge breaths of air. Rei managed a smile at his ability to make it to the surface. But he was only halfway there. He still needed to paddle to shore.

After a few more deep breaths, he began swimming to shore. It seemed like an eternity before he reached shallow water. Once he did, he slowly got to his knees before, with much difficulty, pulling himself to his feet.

'_Ok Rei, you can do it. Just put one foot in front of the other,' _he coaxed himself.

He shakily moved one foot forward and abruptly brought his hand up to his bullet wound. The movement tore at his abdomen and his face once again scrunched up in pain. Then he thought of Kai, and about how he had once again been captured by his sadistic grandfather. He thought about all the things they could do to him, and how his pain would probably be a hundred times worse than what he was feeling.

He slowly opened his eyes, the pain being overtaken by anger. The amber depths of his eyes were swirling with rage and he the only thought left in his mind was how good it would feel to wring Voltaire's neck.

He dropped the hand that had been holding his wound and began trudging through the water towards shore. His hands were so tightly clenched that his knuckles were white and the palms of his hands turned red from the blood that was seeping out of the cuts that his fingernails had caused.

Despite the boost of adrenalin that he had just gotten, it seemed that the closer the shore got, the weaker he became. He drastically slowed down and his fists unclenched. When Rei finally did feel the soft sand beneath his feet, he immediately collapsed. He lay there for a moment taking shaky, irregular breaths, before finally letting the darkness take him, for how long, no one knew.

**BioVolt get-away van**

Viktor heard a small _thunk_ inside the van. He looked over to Kai, who seemed to have passed out. Closer inspection showed a small cell phone lying next to Kai's bound hands.

He walked over and picked it up. It was then that he noticed the flashing words on the screen of the phone.

**Text Message Sent **

"Dammit! Adrik! Get over here!" he yelled in Russian.

Adrik quickly walked out from the passenger area of the van. "What is it?"

Viktor handed him the cell phone. Adrik also read the screen before snapping his head up to glare at him. "Viktor, you fool! Why didn't you search him! He probably called his little friends for help! Police can track these things!" He screamed at his partner, slapping him on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

Adrik muttered something that sounded 'idiot' before smashing the cell phone under his foot. "You could have got us arrested with that little stunt, Viktor! Remind me to ask Boris why we haven't fired you yet, you useless piece of garbage!" Adrik stormed back into the passenger's area.

Viktor sat back down on the seat, rubbing his head and muttering strings of curses in Russian under his breath.

**Granger Dojo**

"Where are they!" Tyson was pacing the living room, occasionally checking his watch.

"Tyson, that's, like, the hundredth time you've asked that. You're starting to give me a headache." Max was sitting on the couch, holding his head in his hands. Tyson had been like that for almost an hour, and Max was finding it extremely hard to hold back the urge punch him in the face.

"What do you expect Max? Rei has been gone for almost three hours! Where are they!"

Max let out a large sigh of annoyance. Just then Kenny came bursting into the living room, Dizzi tucked tightly under his arm. "Guys, you have to read this! It's from Kai! "

Tyson stopped pacing and Max stood up from the couch. "Where is he chief! Are him and Rei alright!" Tyson persisted.

Kenny shook his head frantically. "Here, just read it." He held out Dizzi to Tyson, who snatched it away abruptly. He opened it up and read what the screen said aloud.

**HELP. ME N REI ATTACKED AT PIER. REI HAS BN SHOT. PLSE HRY. **

"Is that it Kenny?" Kenny nodded his head. "But, what does he mean Rei was shot! What's going on! And who attacked them!"

"I don't know Tyson! That's all the text message said!"

"Ok, Ok. Chill Kenny!" Tyson read the message again. "It isn't very long, is it?"

"Hey, your right, Tyson," acknowledged Max. "And another thing, why didn't Kai just call the police? And why did he text message us? I mean, he could have just told us that over the phone couldn't he?"

"That's a good question Max. My theory is that something was keeping Kai from calling us or the police directly. Maybe—

"—he was kidnapped! Right Kenny? I mean, think about it," Tyson cut in. "Kai called us instead of the police, and when he called us, he text messaged us! That means he was in a position where he couldn't talk, right!"

"Uh…yeah."

"So Kenny," intervened Max, "Do you have any idea where Kai is now, or where he was when he sent the message?"

"Actually, Max, I can have Dizzi track the phone call. I have each of our phone numbers recorded in laptop, so she should be able to track it."

"Don't you think you should ask me first before making promises, Chief? Honestly, where are your manners?" said a cynical voice.

"Dizzi, this is serious! We don't have time for sarcasm!"

"Ok, Kenny calm down. For your information, I already have his position."

"Well, what is it!" yelled Tyson.

"I am getting to that!" Dizzi responded in an agitated tone of voice. "_Anyway_, I have him traveling north at 90 miles per hour."

"What! No normal person can travel that fast!"

"Tyson, he's probably in a car!" explained Max.

"Oh."

"Do you still have a beam on him Dizzi?"

"Sorry, Chief. I just lost it."

Tyson snatched the laptop out of Kenny's unprepared hands. "What do you mean you lost it! He couldn't have just vanished!"

"Tyson!" Kenny hurriedly took Dizzi away from Tyson. "Of course he didn't vanish. His cell phone must have broken or something. That's the only way we could have lost his signal."

"Well then how are we going to find him!"

"Calm down Tyson," soothed Max. "Let's just concentrate on finding Rei right now. He could be hurt."

"I agree Max," responded Kenny. "The text message said that they were at the pier. We'll start searching there."

Tyson and Max nodded, and they all headed for the door.

**Pier**

Tyson, Max, and Kenny scanned the pier, straining their eyes to see through the darkness, looking for any sign of there missing friends. There footfalls made thunking noises on the wood under their feet and their voices echoed through the vast expanse of air above the rippling sea as they called their friend's names.

"Oh, this is hopeless!" complained Tyson. "We've been looking up and down this pier for over a half an hour, and we haven't found any sign that Kai and Rei have even been here!"

"Tyson, I know that you're worried about them, but—

Max was cut off when he suddenly slipped on the wooden planks of the pier. Tyson and Kenny caught him before he fell.

"Geez, Max! What the heck happened?"

"I-I don't know," replied Max. "This part of the pier is slippery."

"Wonder what you slipped on."

Kenny bent down and trailed his index finger across one of the planks. When he realized exactly what had caused Max to slip, he let out a yell and fell backwards.

"What is it Kenny?" demanded Tyson, his voice coated with apprehension.

Kenny pointed a shaky finger at the floor of the pier. "I-It's…i-it's—

"Blood!" finished Max, widened eyes staring downward to the spot that Kenny was pointing at.

"Oh my God," breathed Tyson. His mind traveled back to the message that Kai had sent. _'It said that someone had shot Rei. And the blood…' _

"Rei!" Tyson began frantically searching for any sign of Rei's body, gasping when he looked over the edge of the rail and down at the sandy shore.

"Oh no!" Tyson leapt over the railing, stumbling a little when he landed. Kenny and Max also looked over the edge. They too gasped.

There was Rei, lying on his stomach on the shore, the sand underneath him stained red. They ran to the nearest ladder and climbed down.

Tyson rushed over to Rei's still body and flipped him over on his back. He winced as he assessed the damage. His skin was a ghostly white from the amount of blood he had lost and his white shirt was stained red. There was a hole in the material on his abdomen. Tyson pulled his shirt up halfway.

"Oh God." In his upper abdomen was a large bullet hole, dark red blood seeping slowly out of it. Tears began to roll freely down Tyson's cheeks and onto Rei's stomach, the salty liquid mixing with blood.

"Please no, Rei." He grabbed a hold of Rei's icy hand. "Please, don't go, please."

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(Sniffles) Awww… Wasn't that sad? I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but I am currently suffering from EWBS(Extreme Writer's Block Syndrome). I hope you like it, despite it's length. I promise that the next chapter will be longer.

See you next time!


	3. Author's note

**Authors note:** Sorry about the review responses not showing up at the bottom. I wrote them here instead.

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **You sound like I do after ive had too many M&Ms!

**Demi-goddess – Queen of OC's: **Thank you! I love it when people like my writing style.

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Sorry about deleating WWTA. When I tried to submit chapter four, all of my chapters overlapped and half of the fourth chapter disappeared. There was no way I could fix it so I had to delete it. Anywho, thanks for reviewing!

**Jani Reime: **Wow! My writing never crossed me as intense, but its nice to know that someone thinks it is! Thank you!

**BeyMistress05: **o.0… Thanks for your review!


	4. Voltaire's Plan Unveiled

Hello again everybody! I just want to say again that I am so sorry about the second chapter taking so long to write. I have just been so busy since school started that I usually only spend a couple hours at home, and those hours I have to spend doing chores or homework. Around the month of October things should start to get better. I'm in marching band (I know that marching band is really geeky, but believe me, it wasn't my choice. My parents are forcing me to go because they think I have 'musical talent') and I have all these rehearsals to go to every morning, afternoon and night, so after the football season is over, I wont have to practice so much anymore. Plus, I just got my braces of on my teeth (YAY!) and I've had to go to the orthodontist almost everyday for the past two weeks.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent me reviews again! I love getting positive feedback.

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **You really thought it was sad! Hmmmm….

The reason I said that you sound like I do after I've had to many M&Ms is because the day I wrote the review response, which was the day I finished the second chapter, all I had to eat all day was a two bags of M&Ms and a bottle of CocaCola. So I was REALLY hopped up on sugar!

**BeyMistress05: **Are you kidding! I would never kill Rei!(Rei: She would to! Don't trust her! She through me of a pier! RT: You are getting really annoying!) We share a special bond; we share a name! (Rei: Yeah right! RT: That's it!(locks Rei in closet and throws away the key) He is starting to get on my nerves) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Death Fox: **I'm glad you like it.

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Thank you! As my first reviewer at the beginning of my writing craze, I loves you bunches! Also, I hope that my review response cleared things up as far as why I deleted the story.

**Shizuka-Yuki: **Thanks for reviewing again. I am evil, aren't I! (evil laugh)

**Redemberx: **Hmm… whats going to happen to Kai and Rei. The answer… I don't know. This story isn't really planned, so you'll just have to stick around to find out!

**VGMaster04: **Thanks a lot!

**Jani Rieme: **Thanks! Im so glad that you think its awesome! And intense! I fear I might have a meltdown with all of this positivness!

**Tears of Eternal Darkness: ; ) **Thanks for the review!

**Phoenix from the Flames-2: **I would never quit this story! I just started and I loves it to death. I only put the author's note there because my last review responses didn't show up at the bottom of chapter two and I wanted to make sure that everyone got a response. So don't worry, I wont quit writing it. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever! Anywho, thanks for reviewing and I'm happy you like it so far!

Well that's it for me. I'll see you at the bottom of the scroll bar!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade. I do, however, own this plot, so if you try to steal, I WILL hunt you down!

P.S: I have decided to create a quote of the day…er…chapter, so here it is: **Hey, put me down Sasquatch! Don't make me get all ninja on you butt!** (Rex Raptor from Yu-Gi-Oh, second episode of the third season.) My sister was watching that show the other day, and I thought that it was kind of funny.

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Kai opened his eyes to see a bright, white blur floating above him. As the fog left his eyes, he realized that it was some kind of light that he was staring at. Was he in the hospital? No, he couldn't be. He wasn't hurt. If anyone should be in the hospital it should be Rei…Rei! It was then that all of the events that occurred at the pier came rushing back to his memory. Rei was hurt! He had to go and help him, before it was too late!

Kai tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't. It was like he was tied down or something. He craned his neck to see that he was in fact tied down to some kind of table. At least, he thought it was a table. It was cold on his pale skin, like it was made out of metal. It probably was. He tried as hard as he could to break the straps that were holding him down, but no avail.

A cold, harsh laugh made Kai forget about getting free. "Don't bother trying to escape, young Kai. You're not going anywhere this time."

Voltaire? Was he all the way in Russia? No, he couldn't be, could he? The malicious laugh sounded again. "No, you're not in Russia. You're in a place far, far worse," explained Voltaire, as if reading his mind.

So, he wasn't in the Abbey. Then where was he? "What do you want, bastard!" Voltaire began to circle Kai like a hungry hawk would circle its prey. "I was wondering when you were going to ask. What do I want? Well, it's really quite simple."

A cold, vampire-like smile spread across his face as he went over his twisted plans for Kai in his head. "I want you gone, Kai."

Seeing the confused look on Kai's face, he continued. "I honestly don't know what to do with you Kai. It seems that know matter what I do, I can never get you to willingly obey my orders. And even when I use force, you still seem to be able to slip through my fingers. So, I had to make a decision. And the decision is this." Voltaire paused for dramatic effect. "I will simply not tolerate you being able to walk freely among the world. You see, I am not a patient man, Kai, as you well know. I am not going to wait quietly for you to give into me. If I cannot have you, then no one can."

"You're going to kill me, then?"

Voltaire chuckled. "Well, let us think about that for a minute, shall we? You are useless to me, despite your strength and skill. Power is of no use if you cannot control it. Besides, there are others that I could use."

"Oh really? Like who?"

"Well, let's see. Oh, I don't know. Maybe your little friend Tala would suffice. After all, he is nearly as strong as you are. Perhaps with a little more training, I can get him to be even stronger."

"You leave him out of this!"

"Or you'll do what! Hm, Kai? You are in absolutely no position to be throwing around threats. You have no power over me!"

Kai glared at Voltaire. "You have no power over me either!" Voltaire laughed loudly. "For God's sake, boy, look at yourself! You are completely under my control! No one knows where you are! How can you still possibly think that you are the one pulling the strings? Your free will is gone Kai, and this time, you won't be getting it back."

Voltaire snapped his fingers and several BioVolt employees came bursting through the double doors behind him, causing a great amount of light to spill into the room, allowing Kai to see exactly were he was. It was some kind of laboratory. Not a big surprise, really. Voltaire had different labs built all over the world. This one was different though. Not so much in appearance, but in age. Kai could see that spots of the concrete floor were still wet in places. His grandfather had obviously created a new building, just so no one could track him down.

Kai turned his attention back to the activity in the room. The BioVolt goons were busy filling needles with different color liquids and speaking among themselves in a variety of different languages. Voltaire was still there, his icy stare fixed on Kai. "I'll give you some time with my new employees. It will give you a chance to get to know each other." With that, he turned on his heal and left the room.

As soon as the doors closed, Kai could feel several needles being stuck into him. He could feel all the different chemicals coursing through his body like poison, feel each one target every nerve in his body. Pain began ripping through him like a knife, intent on killing him. He bit down on his lip to refrain from yelling out. He hadn't let pain win a battle against his body yet and he wasn't about to start now.

For hours it went on, different needles being inserted into his flesh, each one's effects making it harder for him to fall into unconsciousness, each one increasing his pain ten fold. After a while, he no longer had to force his body not to scream. Everything was numb anyway, and even if it wasn't, his vocal cords wouldn't work anyway. His eyes were glazed over from all the different chemicals being pumped into his body, and it seemed as if his soul had left his body, like he was nothing more than an empty shell, his shallow, irregular breaths only sign that he was still living.

One of the BioVolt men looked down at Kai's limp form and sighed. "You know, I almost feel bad for the kid."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting soft. It's not your job to feel sorry for people. It's your job to follow orders. There's no room for weaklings in this profession."

"I am not a weakling and I am not getting soft! Let's get this kid out of here. He's half dead anyway." A few different men unhooked Kai's restraints one of them lifted his motionless body off of the metal table. Kai took no notice of any of this, his blank, sightless eyes staring off into nothingness.

As he was carried out of the room, something suddenly sparked in Kai's glazed, crimson orbs, before disappearing as if it was never there. Although this went unnoticed, anyone who knew Kai knew that this was a sign that his body was fighting against all odds to keep him alive. The fight wasn't over yet.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Tyson sat in one of the waiting room's plastic chairs, fiddling with his hands. His face was still tearstained where the salty liquid ribbons had been flowing down his cheeks for so long. He had finally managed to stop crying, but found that he had become extremely quiet since he had done so. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and he couldn't help but blame himself for all of it. Kai had left because he had fought with him. If Kai hadn't left, then Rei wouldn't have gone looking for him, and they all would have been back at the dojo, safe and sound.

He checked his wristwatch. The flashing green numbers read 4:32 am. Rei had been in surgery for almost six hours. He remembered when they had found Rei barley alive underneath the pier. Max and Kenny literally had to shove Tyson away from him. He couldn't help it. He was in a state of shock. One of his best friends was covered in blood, and another one was missing. Max rode with Rei to the hospital when the ambulance had come. Tyson didn't think he could have bared to see the paramedics hook all of those machines and stuff up to him like Tyson like he had seen in the movies. He was even more afraid about what they would have said about his friend's condition. He figured it was better for his sanity if he just waited for a while before asking exactly how Rei was doing. It would give him a chance to prepare himself.

Tyson looked around the room. It was empty except for Max, Kenny, and himself. Max was asleep on the floor, a worried and tired expression on his face. Kenny was slumped in his chair, also sleeping, Dizzi still being held protectively in his arms. Tyson was tired too, but refused to let himself sleep before he knew how Rei was doing.

He thought back to when they had called Mariah and the White Tigers from the hospital phone. He remembered how Mariah had sobbed hysterically through the speaker and how devastated she had sounded. They all knew that she would react that way, but she had a right to know. Lee had called from the airport thirty minutes later to inform them that they had gotten plane tickets for Japan and were boarding the jet over the phone. Tyson was going to have to suck it up once they got to the hospital. After all, the White Tigers had been Rei's friends much longer than he had and were probably suffering much worse.

They had called Tala too to see if he knew of any possible places that Kai could be. He didn't know anything, but said that he would look into it. Tyson has faith in him. If anyone could find Kai, Tala could. But, as it currently stood, Rei was the only one that knew where Kai was. And, Tyson feared, if Rei didn't make it, then neither would Kai.

Tyson heard footsteps echoing through the hallway and looked up from his hands as one of the doctors walked into the waiting room. Unlike the nurses that come to check on them every hour or so, she had no smile on her face and looked extremely tired, tresses of red hair let loose out of her tight bun.

"Hello," she greeted, trying and failing to sound cheerful. "I understand that you are here with Rei Kon?" Tyson nodded and woke up Max and Kenny, who both sat up groggily. "My name is Dr. Hoshiko Kohana. Before we talk about your friend's condition, I need to ask you a few questions."

"What kind of questions?" asked Max, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning.

"First of all, I need to know exactly how Rei was injured."

"He was shot, we already told you that," pointed out Tyson.

"Yes, I know that. I need to know how he was shot."

They all exchanged glances before Kenny answered, "Were not sure. We just found him like that."

"How did you know were to find him?"

"Why do you want to know?" demanded Tyson, his tone of voice rising. None of this was helping Rei.

"Calm down young man, I just need to know whether or not to fill out a police report. If your friend was intentionally shot, as in most cases with bullet wounds, then we need to know if we need to get a team of detectives out there to help catch whoever hurt your friend."

"Well, we got a text message from another one of our friends saying that they had been attacked at the pier a few miles away from the house we're staying at. When we got there, we found Rei there, but no sign of our other friend," explained Kenny.

"I see," said Dr. Kohana, writing some notes down on her clipboard. "I'll need to know your friend's name and any immediate family members that we could contact incase we have a kidnapping on our hands."

"Kai Hiwatari, and he doesn't have any family," answered Tyson.

Dr. Kohana looked up from her notes. "None at all?"

"None that we know of anyway, except his grandfather that is, but we kind of have a hunch that he could be a possible suspect in this whole thing."

Dr. Kohana finished writing down the information and then looked back to the remaining bladebreakers. "Now, back to Mr. Kon. We were able to stabilize him and, fortunately, he isn't comatose yet, despite the shocking amount of blood he's lost. However, we need to keep a close eye on him. He could slip into a coma at any moment and if he does, we need to be ready."

Max noticed that the doctor seemed to be beating around the bush, as if she was trying to avoid something. He had a pretty good idea what it was. "Dr. Kohana?" She shifted her gaze toward Max. "I was wondering if you could tell us his chances of survival. We really need to know."

Dr. Kohana dropped her gaze and let out a sigh. "You want the truth?" They all nodded in unison. "Not very good." Seeing the desperation in the teens' features, she continued. "Even though he isn't comatose, he is still in very critical condition. Because he was not brought in earlier, he has lost so much blood. He doesn't have enough left in him to make his body function properly. We are trying to increase his blood level, but if we don't restore it fast enough, he will either slip into a coma or…" Dr. Kohana couldn't finish the statement. She didn't have to. She had said enough for all of them to realize just how desperate the situation was.

Tyson stared at his hands again with watery eyes, trying desperately not to let the tears fall. He had to be strong. This was no time for an emotional breakdown. He looked at the others. They didn't seem to be worried about being strong at all, as tears were already streaming down their cheeks.

Dr. Kohana watched all of this silently. This was the worst part about her job. It was great when they could save someone, but in cases like this when there was a slim chance of survival, it was extremely hard to tell the friends and family that the person they cared for might not make it.

"Dr. Kohana?" She looked over at Tyson. "Please, call me Hoshiko." Tyson nodded. "Hoshiko, do you think we could see him, you know, just in case he doesn't…"

Hoshiko looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry but…" She stopped and looked at the distraught expression on his face. "Of course." Tyson face visibly brightened. "Thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it. I'm more than happy to help. I just wish there was more I could do."

"You've done enough already by trying to save Rei. It means a lot to us that you're willing to help us so much," assured Max.

Hoshiko smiled. "Thank you. Anyway, your friend's room is the first one on the right once you walk into the ICU. You can't miss it. All I ask is that only one of you goes in at a time."

They all nodded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to. It was nice meeting you all, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"So do we." She smiled sadly, then walked turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

**Balkov Abbey, Moscow, Russia **

Tala Ivanhov walked hurriedly down the dark corridors of Balkov Abbey. His destination: Boris's office. When Tyson had called and asked if he knew where Kai was, and then told him about the situation in Russia, all signs immediately pointed to Boris and Voltaire. Those were the only two people alive that held a grudge against Kai strong enough to possess them to add kidnapping to their long list of felonies. He was going to find out what they had done with Kai, or die trying.

Tala shoved open the doors of the office so hard that they almost fell of their hinges. Boris came out from behind his desk and walked slowly toward him. "Why Tala, what a pleasant surprise." Tala didn't stop walking. In fact, he speed up his pace.

An unpleasant look spread across Boris's features. "What is all this about?" he demanded, backing up a little. Tala didn't answer. Instead he raised his fist and punched Boris square in the nose. He fell backwards and lay sprawled on the floor, holding one hand up to his face.

"Where is he!" Tala demanded to know, all self control lost. Boris looked up at him, blood seeping through his fingers. "Have you gone absolutely insane!"

Tala ignored the question. "Where is he!" he repeated.

"Who!"

"Kai! What did you do with him!" Boris stood up, wiped the blood from his broken nose, and laughed. "I see that you've had contact with the Bladebreakers."

"Answer the question!"

Boris sighed (which sounded rather weird since his nose was broken). "He is in his grandfather's custody at the moment. But he won't be for long."

"What are you saying!"

Boris smiled. "I'm saying that Voltaire no longer needs Kai anymore. That's why he's going to get rid of him. Can't say that I'll be sorry when he's gone."

"If either of you fucking bastards lay a hand on him I'll—

"You'll what? Stop us? Kill us? And how do you plan on doing that exactly?" It was then that two BioVolt employees walked into the office and grabbed Tala by each arm. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm in charge here. You are merely a puppet, a pawn in BioVolt's many strategies. Remember your place." He turned to the two guards that were holding the struggling Tala. "Make sure he is punished for his insolence."

The two men nodded and dragged Tala out of the room. Inside the office, crazed, maniacal laughs could be heard.

**Unknown Location **

Kai awoke to find himself lying on his stomach in a fairly new looking cell. He tried sitting up, only to find that his whole body ached like crazy. He weakly crawled over to the wall and used it to help push himself up into a slumped sitting position. Almost immediately after he sat up, loud footsteps sounded from outside the cell. Kai continued to sit silently as the face of Voltaire Hiwatari appeared from out of the gloom.

"It's good to see that you're awake, grandson. I was beginning to miss our special time together. Yesterday was such a bonding experience, don't you think?"

Kai ignored him, choosing instead to focus his energy on staring at the wall.

Voltaire laughed. "Giving me the cold shoulder, eh? It's not a big surprise to me. It is what you're famous for after all. Ignoring people. Brushing them aside. No wonder your friends haven't come for you, really. They're probably happy to be rid of you."

Kai continued to ignore him. He knew that Voltaire was just trying to mess with his head.

He frowned. "Very well then. I guess this means that it's time for more fun. Well, fun for me anyway."

Kai slowly turned his head toward him. "Fuck off."

"I'd advise you to hold your tongue while you are still on this earth, boy. If behave, I just might make your death quick."

"Oh goody," replied Kai sarcastically.

"I've had enough of this." He snapped his fingers and, out of nowhere, two men appeared. "Take young Kai to the punishment chamber. And when you get there, make him pay for his disobedience slowly. I want this to be agonizing."

The men nodded and unlocked the door of the cell. They then walked up to Kai and dragged him to his feet. Sharp pain tore at every one of his nerves, and it was all he could do not to scream.

Voltaire walked over to Kai and lifted his chin with his hand. "You're getting weak, Kai. I can see it in your eyes. You would have never given into pain this quickly in the past."

Kai jerked his head away from his grandfather. "This isn't the past anymore. Why don't you just move on, dammit!"

He just laughed, which he seemed to do whenever Kai was in pain. "Move on? Why should I? And besides, I can't move on. Not until you're out of my way."

"Then why don't you just kill me?"

"Because, I want to see you suffer. I want to see you plead for your life."

"Don't hold your breath, cause that's never going to happen."

Voltaire smiled. "We'll see."

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Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Personally, I thought it was pretty good. It only took a couple hours to write. I just had a major creative boost today, so I hope you all enjoyed not having to wait very long for an update.

Rei gives you all huggles!


	5. The White Tigers Arrival

Oh my goodness gracious golly gosh! I do not know what has gotten into me, but I can't seem to stop writing! I have just had the biggest creative spark of my entire life. Yesterday, after I finished the latest chapter, I still really really really wanted to write some more. But, unfortunately, I do have to share my house with two other people, one who has the authority to kick me off the computer when they want to play on it.

So many questions were left unanswered in the last chapter. Is Rei going to be okay? And where is Kai anyway? What exactly is Voltaire planning? Everyone knows that Voltaire wouldn't kill Kai just because he won't join BioVolt again. Well, he would actually, but there is more going on here than just Voltaire's twisted plans for revenge.

I would also like to say thank you again to all my reviewers. Here are your responses.

**BeyMistress05: **What! Why did you let him go! You do realize that he's never going to let me live this down. (Rei: Ha! I got away! Just because you're the authoress of this story does not mean you're all that. RT: Maybe not, but it does give me the power to stick you in a coma mister! Rei: 0.0 (Gulp) ) Well _anyway_ (glances toward Rei), I still can't believe that I made some people come to tears with this story. I mean, I think that the story is ok, but I never thought that it was good enough to make people want to cry!

**I-Aint-No-F'in-Angel: **You know what, you make me laugh! But in a good way. I'm not making fun of you or anything, I just think you're funny. I'm not sure what will happen to Rei yet. Maybe I'll keep him around since I've been so mean to him. (Rei: Finally you admit it! I was wondering when you would come out of denial! RT: Excuse me, but I have no trouble admitting that I can be an evil &$# sometimes. And another thing, you know that gun from the first chapter? (pats her side pocket) Still got it. Rei: (flees) ) Don't worry, he'll be back. And about that Mariah thing, I so agree with you. She can be such an annoying Mary Sue sometimes. But, you have to admit that we criticize her for the same reason that we do with all the other anime girls. It's because they steal our bishies away from us! Plus, she does not deserve Rei anyway. She was so mean to him in the first season! They really should just kick her off.

**Death Fox: **Ugh, I know what you mean. Why did they have to make some so annoying, stupid, and tasteless the main character of the show anyway? I mean, that is like Beyblades only flaw. They should have made Kai the main character of the show instead of Tyson. Kai is so much more interesting, and no where near as stupid. And Kai is my favorite character of the show too. They don't give him a real big part in the third season like they did in the first and second. Which is a pity to because the third season is really good. If only they would just take Tyson out of most of it. That's, like, half of the show, him blabbering.

**Storm- of- Insanity: **Don't worry about not being able to write as fast as me. I type 75 words per minute, so it doesn't take that long for me to type something. Also, I was feeling really inspired yesterday so that helped too. Your chapters are only 2-4 pages long? I make sure that mine are at least ten pages long. Yesterday, I was running out of ideas around the 8th page, but I wouldn't even let myself consider stopping until I got to page ten. So I made something up that I wasn't originally going to put in the chapter. And about that whole C2 thing, the answer is…YES! I would love to be in your C2! I've always wanted to be a part of one, and it makes me so happy that you think I'm good enough to be in your C2!

**Shizuka-Yumi: **You know something, I'm going to make a song for you, and it's going to have the words 'evil' and 'Rei' in it a lot. And do you know why? It's because I _am _evil! Muwahahahaha! Thank you for reviewing and come back again! I'll be here with more evilness!

Now, your quote of the update! **Emily: Hey Rei, doesn't China have, like, a really good military? Holly: Yeah, don't we own China or something? (brief silence) Rei: Sure Holly, we own China. Holly: OMG! That is so cool! That means we could, like, win any war! Emily: (bangs her head on the desk) Rei: Hey Holly! Gullible is written on the board. Holly: (looks around) Oh, where! Rei: (Rolls eyes) **That was an exert from my life. We were studying China in class when this happened. My friend Holly is such an idiot sometimes. This one time, my friend Kylie had this keychain that said "Want to know how to keep a moron busy for hours? Then flip this keychain over.", and the other side said the same thing. Well, Holly got a hold of it and she was flipping it over for like a half hour saying "I don't get it. Where's the answer?"

Well enough chit-chat, on with the story!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade.

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For the first time in fifteen years, Voltaire could honestly say that he was happy. He had his unsuspecting grandson in the palm of his hands. No one could ruin his plan now. Everything so far was running smoothly. Kai thought that the only reason that he had him there was to kill him and get revenge. Well, there was a lot more to it then that.

For generations, the Hiwatari family had been famous for their strength, stamina, and endurance. No one knew exactly what caused it, but every member of the Hiwatari family had been born with amazing physical strength, the latest Hiwatari in particular. In all his years, Voltaire had never seen anyone in their entire family stronger than his grandson. Maybe he was born with it, or maybe all those years in the abbey had caused his abilities to strengthen. Either way, Voltaire knew from the moment of Kai's birth that if he didn't get him on his side, then the boy would surly be his demise, and it would be a hot day in Moscow when Voltaire Hiwatari let his own grandson be the cause of his downfall.

So, he had no choice but to strip Kai of his parents and free will. How his daughter had sobbed the day that he took Kai away from her. She had begged and pleaded with him not to take her only child away. In the end, Voltaire had to resort to desperate measures. That girl would have gone to the ends of the earth to get her son back, and she almost did. He had no choice but to dispose of her. She had nothing to loose anyway. After all, she was only sixteen at the time.

After Anya had been taken care of, he had brought Kai back to the Abbey, where he had been reunited with his sister, Stephania. He remembered how easy it was to get her to the Abbey. Anya had believed every word when Voltaire had told her that her daughter had died in a tragic car accident. In reality, he had brought her to the Abbey to evaluate her abilities. When she had become useless, he had killed her as well. She would only be a burden if he had kept her alive. She had no real power. Kai had been devastated when he had heard the news. His only family left had been taken away from him. He had even made a grave for her, although the body had been thrown into Lake Baikal **(Hey did you know that lake Baikal is a real lake? I'm putting this in bold print because I want you to read this; I have some pretty cool facts that I researched on the internet. Lake Baikal is over 30 million years old and 1637 meters deep! Pretty neato, huh.) **Voltaire almost thought that Kai was going to commit suicide after that. Luckily, Tala had come just in time to talk him out of it. And though Tala didn't know it, what he did had helped his plans greatly.

Over the years, Voltaire saw amazing progress with Kai's abilities. It seemed as though every day he was growing stronger. Then the Bladebreakers had come along and nearly destroyed his plans. Kai had grown weak in there company, and Voltaire had nearly lost all that he had worked so hard to gain. But right when things seemed the grimmest for him, Voltaire's brain had hatched another idea. If he were to kidnap Kai and force him to believe that all he really wanted to do was kill him, then he would make no attempt to escape from his plans. Kai's main concern was not for himself, but for the people that he cared about. Then, Voltaire would pump numerous drugs into his bloodstream, just as he had done earlier. After a while, Kai would remember nothing about himself. He would be like an extremely powerful puppet, a slave that Voltaire could control without having to worry about him rebelling and struggling. Kai would still possess all the power that he originally held, but there would be nothing inside of him to keep that power from unleashing itself. Once that happened, the world would be Voltaire's oyster.

Once Kai's life had been completely erased, the earth would undergo a powerful revelation. World leaders would be stripped of their posts, and the Hiwataris would rule. Voltaire chuckled to himself.

'_It's only a matter of time,' _he told himself. _'It's only a matter of time.'_

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

"So, who's going in first?" The Bladebreakers were still sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, trying to figure out who should see Rei first. Hoshiko had said that only one of them could go in at a time, and they were having trouble deciding who it should be. Naturally, they all wanted to go in first, but since they couldn't, they would have to pick someone.

"Maybe we should wait until the White Tigers get here and let them go in first," suggested Kenny. "After all, they should be here soon. Why not just wait for them?"

"That's a good idea chief. The White Tigers have been friends with Rei for years. It's only fair that they should get to visit before us," agreed Max.

"I know you guys are right, but I really want to see how he's doing."

"We know you do Tyson, but the White Tigers should be here any minute. We'll all get our turn."

"Listen to the chief, Tyson. If it makes you feel better, after the White Tigers are done visiting Rei, we'll let you go first before us."

Tyson smiled for the first time in two days. "Thanks Max. That means a lot."

Max winked at him. "Don't mention it."

Seconds later, frantic, hurried footsteps pounded on the white tiles of the hospital. The Bladebreakers didn't have to get up to know who the footsteps belonged to. Besides, they could hear Mariah whining halfway down the hall.

"I am _not _overreacting Lee! I simply suggested that the pilot fly a little faster since some of us have places to be. _Important _places."

"Mariah, you told him to move his fucking ass faster or you were going to throw him out the window and fly the plane yourself."

Mariah snorted. "Well, he _was _flying slow. And besides, I wanted to get here as fast as possible. Can you blame me for being worried about Rei?"

"No, but that doesn't mean that you need to go throwing death threats at people. You're lucky that guy didn't call the cops."

"Well, I guess Mariah's here," Max unnecessarily pointed out. "Speak to the devil and there she is."

"What was that Max!" Mariah asked as she rounded the corner into the waiting room.

"Oh, nothing."

Mariah sniffled and her eyes started to water. "Max Tate! In case you haven't noticed, I am in a very frail and distraught state of mind! If you can't be supportive and understanding of me in my time of need then some heads are gonna roll!"

Max sunk visibly low in his seat. "Geez Mariah. The only other time I've ever seen you this moody was during your last PMS."

"Oh shut up Kevin!" she screamed back, klonking him on his green little head.

"Ow! Mariah!"

"Serves you right! I'm beginning to think that I'm the only one here who is actually worried about Rei!"

"Mariah, you know that's not true. We're all worried about him."

"Really Lee? Cause it looks to me like you all are feeling just fine right now while I'm going out of my mind! I mean, look at me!" After getting a good look at Mariah, Max, Kenny and Tyson could see that she did look rather trashed. Her hair was messy and was let out of her pink ribbon that she normally wore. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying so much and her cheeks were red and tearstained. Her nose was rather puffy and every couple of seconds she would sniffle.

"Dang, Mariah. You look tore up."

"I know that ok, Tyson!" She took a tissue out of her pocket and loudly blew her nose. Lee pulled her into a comforting embrace and patted her back as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry little sister, Rei will be ok." Mariah looked up from Lee's shoulder. "You (sniff) promise?"

"I promise. Everything's going to be alright." Mariah's chin began to tremble and she continued to sob into her brother's shoulder once again.

"Um, Mariah?" Mariah broke away from Lee and turned to face Max. "Yeah?"

"Do you still want to go see Rei? Or do you want to wait until you've calmed down a little."

Mariah sniffled. "Yes, I still want to see him today."

"Are you sure?" asked Lee.

Mariah nodded. "Positive."

"Ok, it's the first door on your right once you walk into the ICU."

"Thanks Max." She then turned away from the others and began walking down the hall toward intensive care.

**Intensive Care Unit **

Mariah followed Max's instructions and in no time she was standing outside of Rei's room in intensive care. She had one shaky hand on the doorknob and was staring at her shoes. She closed her eyes and focused all of her energy on turning the handle. She managed to turn it halfway before releasing the knob and falling to her knees.

'_Oh God, I can't do this! I don't want to see him like this! What if he…' _

'_No! Don't think like that! Rei's going to be ok. Lee said so.' _

'_Lee doesn't know anything! He was just trying to make me feel better!' _

"_Mariah, pull yourself together girl! You have to be strong for Rei. He needs you right now.' _

Mariah stood up, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and opened the door. When she walked in she immediately noticed how dark it was, since it was still early morning and the lights were off. She trailed her hand along the wall and flipped on the light switch. Once the lights were on, Mariah could see exactly what she had walked into.

The first thing she noticed was all the machines lined up against the wall, each one emitting a soft beeping noise. One she could see was the heart monitor, and it pained her to see how slow and sluggish the lines were. What frightened her most of all though was the bed in the middle of the room. And it wasn't the bed as much as the person lying on it that scared her.

She slowly walked up towards the side of the bed and looked down at the figure resting on it. Funny, the person she was looking at looked immensely like Rei. But, this couldn't be Rei, could it? No, of course not. Rei wasn't this weak frail, body wrapped up in bandages that was lying before her. Rei was a strong, kind person who would never in a million years land himself in this kind of position. Who would want to hurt Rei like this? Nobody, that's who.

Mariah kept telling herself these things, but the longer she looked down at the person on the bed, the more she began to realize that this was Rei. _Her _Rei. Her best friend in the whole world. And tomorrow, she would wake up and he would still be here, in the same position. And the next day. And the next day. And maybe forever.

It was then that Mariah broke down. Right there. In the middle of Rei's hospital room. Because, in reality, this room belonged to Rei now. And why did it belong to Rei? Because he was lying in the hospital with bloody bandages wrapped around his torso, his life slowly slipping away, like sand through her fingers.

She fell to her knees and cried. She cried until she had no more tears left to give. And even then, she still knelt there, dry sobs wracking her body. She looked Rei with red eyes and watched as the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose pumped are into his battered body.

"Rei?" she called, though she expected no answer. "Rei, I know that you're somewhere in there, and I know that no matter how far away you are, that you can hear me." She took a hold of his icy, pale hand and continued. "I don't know how or why this happened to you Rei, but you need to fight this. Everyone is here, waiting for you to open your beautiful eyes, including me. Everyone except Kai, that is. But I know that if he could be here, then he would be."

"God, I wish you could talk to me. I'd give anything to hear your voice right now." Mariah let out a small choked sob and the flow of tears started again. "Rei, you h-have to w-wake up. Please d-don't die, Rei, please! Because if y-you die, then I-I go down with you. I k-know how strong y-you are and I k-know that you can beat this so please, please keep fighting. I know y-you can win!"

Mariah began to cry in the crook of his neck, whispering small pleads for him to stay alive, for him not to leave her alone. Then, after several minutes of sobbing, she finally cried herself to sleep, still clutching his hand for dear life.

**Waiting Room **

"Mariah's been gone for a long time. Do you think she's ok?"

"What trouble could she possibly get into inside a hospital, Lee?"

"Remember who we're talking about, Gary. This _is _Mariah after all. Who knows what she could get herself into."

"Don't worry, Lee. She probably just fell asleep or something."

Lee was pacing the floor of the waiting room, wondering what was taking her so long. She shouldn't torture herself by staying there to long. If they weren't careful, she was going to have a mental breakdown right here in the hospital. And they all knew what Mariah could be like when she really got cranky.

"Maybe I should go check on her. You know, just in case she had an emotional spasm or something."

They all sighed. "Fine Lee, go. But we're telling you, she probably just fell asleep," insisted Kevin. Lee wasn't listening. He was already outside Rei's door by the time Kevin finished talking.

Lee turned the doorknob and walked inside. Mariah was sound asleep slumped over the bed, her head resting on Rei's shoulder and her hand intertwined with his. Lee took a moment to look his friend over. He winced when he say the bloody bandages wrapped tightly around Rei's slim torso.

Frowning at the pained expression on Mariah's face, he pulled her hand off of Rei's and gently lifted her up onto the couch that was sitting in the room. He then walked over to the other side of the room, switched off the light, and closed the door behind him.

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Aw, wasn't that sweet? Poor Rei, poor, well, maybe not that poor, Mariah. And in case you're wondering, I know nothing about all that hospital stuff that I wrote about in the last chapter. Although I do no what most of the machines and stuff like that do because my three year old brother had cancer last year so I spent a lot of time in the hospital.

And I'm sorry about Kai not being in this chapter, but don't worry, he'll be in the next one. I promise!

See you next time! Rei loves you all bunches! (and that's me, not the Rei that's _supposed_ to be in the hospital, but isn't right now because he is too busy taunting me because BeyMistress05 let him out of the closet and now he's rubbing it in my face! Sheesh)


	6. Stephania Rises Again

Hello to all of my faithful readers! Guess what? I'm sick today so I had enough time to write this chapter today instead of this weekend when I had planned to update! YAY! You can all thank my band director who got me sick by making me march in the rain for three and a half hours. Also, I am introducing my first (second if you count Hoshiko, but I wouldn't) OC in this chapter. If you read the title of the chapter, then you know who it is.

Anywho… I am so happy that I had enough time to finish this chapter so soon! I have been itching to get Kai back in the story. Thanks to all of my reviewers! Huggles!

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **I know! Kai and Rei are soooo hot! I think that they have got to be some of the hottest guys in all of anime. I say this one episode of Beyblade in the third season where Rei isn't wearing a shirt, and I was drooling all over the remote! (this is kinda weird, using my name and talking about how they look hot with their shirt off, but oh well) Oh, and as soon as you said 'Now you say you still have the gun?', I didn't even have to read on to know what was coming next, even though I did. You are so funny!

**Kuro1107: **I'm workin' on it! Just be patient! Oh, and thanks for reviewing!

**Bruna Aguino: **I don't like Voltaire either. He is such a butthead, torturing our poor Kai and all! Oops, I do that to. But I do it with love!

**BeyMistress05: **Thank you so much for fluffy! I loves him to death! Me and him are buddies now and he is my bestest friend! I took Rei out of the tree, but he doesn't taught me any more because I take my fluffy with me every where I go! (Rei: Hmph. RT: Fluffy. Fluffy: Growls. Rei: 0.0) Ha! Take that! Who is all that now Rei? Who is all that now?

**Rememberx: **Don't worry. I have made a decision on whether or not I kill Rei or not and have decided that I'm not going to kill him, so don't you fret.

**Death Fox: **Awww, thank you. My brother's ok now and everything. He even has his fuzzy black hair back that I missed so much! Now he gets mad at me cause I'm always putting his hair in pig tails and stuff. I can't help it! He has such cute hair!

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Of course I didn't make Voltaire shot him in the head! I don't want Kai to die! I'd have to… I don't know, commit suicide or something! And I don't think I'm going to change Rei's name to Ray, even though it is kinda confusing, just cause I've already had it the same way throughout the entire story, and I like the version that I'm using better.

Now, on with chapter number six…er…five…uh…oh just read it!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Beyblade

**Quote of the Update: **Atta Senator! Atta girl…uh…boy…er…what are you anyway? (Governor addressing a female senator.) No lie people, a governor of the U.S actually said this in public! I got it out of this book I found at the store called '1000 of the Dumbest Things Ever Said'. I don't own that either. (points to disclaimer)

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The two BioVolt employees continued to lead Kai down the dark hallways of…well…he wasn't exactly sure where he was. Even though Kai had never been to this particular building, he knew the room that his grandfather had sent him to quite well. All of Voltaire's punishment rooms were the same: a dungeon of some sort especially created for teaching anyone who was stupid enough to step out of line where they belonged, and that was below them. Below Boris, Voltaire, or anyone else who worked for BioVolt. Kai thought that he must be the stupidest person in the world considering how many times he had been to the punishment room. Or maybe he was just too stubborn for his own good. Or maybe both. Despite his current predicament, he couldn't help but think of Rei. Where was he? Was he even still alive? And if so, had the others found him?

Kai's train of thought was broken when he heard a loud creaking noise in front of him. It took his blurred eyes a moment to realize that the sound he heard was the creaking of the hinges of a door. They were here. Kai guessed that his eyes were still blurred from some sort of after affect of the drugs he had been given. He still wondered why Voltaire had chosen to pump all those chemicals into his body. The only time he usually did that was when he was running some sort of twisted experiment. Maybe he was. Or maybe, there was something else going through Voltaire's head that Kai hadn't figured out yet.

Once again, his deep thinking had caused him to loose focus. He barely noticed the punches the men were dealing to his face. Were they using physical force already? Usually they played some kind of sick mind game with him first. Then he realized that the punches had just been used to get his attention.

"What!" he demanded, wiping a trail of blood off his cheek.

"We asked you a question, you little worm. Listen when we're talking to you!"

"Oh, sorry. Could you repeat the question? I was too distracted by your ugly faces." Apparently these men didn't tolerate insults, because immediately after the words had left his mouth, Kai found himself laying on the floor, a nasty purple bruise forming on his stomach. He just smiled and stood up. He always did this when his grandfather's cronies began to punish him. He'd throw around a few insults at them, waiting to see how they would react. It was almost like he was playing a little mind game himself.

"So," one of them began, continuing with the taunting. "How does it feel to be trapped in a cage again, Kai, knowing that any minute could be your last."

Kai snorted in amusement. "I doubt I'll be leaving the planet anytime soon. Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for Voltaire's so called 'plan' to kill me? It's not like my brain is as small as yours, you know. If it was, than maybe."

"You shut up, you little brat!" The insulted man landed a swift kick to the side of Kai's head, causing him to go flying into the wall, but somehow managed to stay on his feet. Kai heard a sharp _crack _as his skull made contact with the stone. He stood there for a minute, watching things go in and out of focus worse than ever, and trying to ignore the painful throbbing in his head (which didn't exactly work.). He slid down into a sitting position on the cold floor, only to be dragged back up again by his hair, which was not helping his headache at all.

Kai remained silent, instead choosing to look at his abuser straight in the eye. He would have to be more careful around these two. They had some nasty tempers, and he was going to get himself killed ahead of schedule, if that's really what Voltaire was planning on doing to him, though he doubted it.

"Not so keen to talk now, are you?" Kai held his death glare, choosing not to answer. "Didn't think so. Now, where were we? Oh, I remember now." He threw him roughly to the floor and waited for him to stand up again before motioning to his partner and slowly advancing toward him. This was another little game they played, adding to the suspense by moving as slow as possible, giving the prisoner enough time to realize that he was trapped like a rat and that his only option was to pray to God that he lived through this.

Kai already knew all of these things, but he did not plan to beg for his life. He had lived through far worse that kicks and punches. At least, he thought that that's what they were going to do. Once the men got close enough to touch him, it began. It did start out with them just landing kicks and punches to his body, although it was much worse than just some street fight or something. To someone standing outside the door, it sounded as though there were several men breaking apart punching bags inside the room.

In no time at all, Kai was covered in blood and bruises. He lay on the floor, gasping for air. His ribs had been shattered and he guessed that one of them had torn a lung, which wasn't good at all. To Kai, it felt like someone could have stabbed him 27 times and it still wouldn't have hurt this bad. His labored breathing wasn't helping things either. Through the entire thing, though, not once had Kai cried out in pain. He never had in his life, save a few times when he was little. He didn't like giving his punishers the satisfaction of hearing him scream. They lived of the pained cries of there victims, and Kai wasn't going to give them that pleasure.

One of the men knelt down next to Kai and whispered in his ear, "In case you're wondering, we're not finished just yet."

'_Oh great!' _thought Kai. _'What could they possibly do now?' _

As if reading his mind, both men unhooked a whip that Kai hadn't noticed before and, once again, began slowly walking toward him. He would have gasped if his lungs had been working properly, so he widened his eyes instead. He hated whips. The fact that he hated them so much was the reason why they were used on him all the time.

'_Oh well,' _he thought, _'might as well just wait for it to be over with.' _

Kai closed his eyes and braced himself as the long weapon made a stinging contact with his tensed body. He could feel them continue there whipping on his unprotected flesh, each hit causing a burning pain to spread through his body. Every one of his already sore muscles seemed to be on fire as they continued to bring the whip down on him over and over again. The men were obviously enjoying themselves, seeing as they showed no signs of stopping or slowing down.

Kai, however, was just waiting for himself to pass out, waiting for it to be over. Finally, and much to Kai's satisfaction, darkness took him and he felt no more pain.

**Japan **

A young woman of about 17 years walked quietly down the streets of Tokyo, a relaxed and peaceful look on her face. She was just so happy to be in Japan, a place where she didn't have to hide her face all the time. She had just arrived in Tokyo earlier that day, thankful that she had finally raised enough money to fly out of the wretched hellhole that she had lived in before.

When she had lived in Russia, she spent all of her time trying to hide herself, avoiding anyone who looked suspicious to her. She had no choice but to hide. She constantly feared that someone would come and take her back to that awful place that she had spent her childhood at.

If anyone had looked up this girl's phone number, address, anything that held information about her, they would find the information they sought mysteriously missing. Because, you see, Stephania Hiwatari was supposed to be dead.

Anyone that saw her could see that she was obviously not dead, which was why she had chosen to stay hidden for so long. If her grandfather knew that she was still alive, he wouldn't hesitate in the least to finish the job. She remembered the day she had escaped the abbey. Well, escape wasn't really the right word for what she had done.

Stephania remembered the day of her escape very well. Everything that had happened that day had been planned. She had been forming the idea in her mind for several days before she put it into affect. Now, you may be wondering, how could a seven year old come up with a perfectly executed plan? Surly she had some help. Well, Stephania Hiwatari was not the average seven year old.

Many people in Russia had heard of the Hiwatari family's 'strange' attributes, about their amazing physical and mental strength. Stephania was no exception. Although she had made it look like she had no special qualities whatsoever, she indeed held the same abilities as the rest of her family. But, for her plan, she had to keep them a secret, even from her own brother whom she told everything to.

It all started the day that Voltaire had finally decided to get rid of her. She had even misbehaved a little that day to speed things up. Thinking that she wouldn't be able to survive the punishment he dealt to her, Voltaire gave her a rather weak beating. While it was true that the punishment given would have killed a regular seven year old, as I said before, Stephania was not a regular seven year old at the time. She had held her breath and lain completely still at one point during the punishment to give the illusion that she had died. They hadn't even checked for a pulse. Once they assumed she had she was dead, Voltaire had ordered his 'instructors' to get rid of her body by throwing her in Lake Baikal. After they had done that, it was a simple matter for her to just swim to shore once they had left. She had been hiding out ever since.

Her memories were interrupted when two beybladers walked past her, holding a rather interesting conversation. Interested, she decided to follow them.

"I feel really bad for the Bladebreakers, you know, after what happened to their two teammates and all."

"What happened?"

"You didn't hear? It was all over the news this morning!"

"Just tell me what happened."

"Well, apparently, two of their best bladers got ambushed at the pier the other day."

"Wow, are they ok?"

"Not exactly. You see, one of them got shot and put into the hospital, and the other one was kidnapped."

"Have they found the guys that did it yet?"

"No. But I did find out the names of the bladers on their team that got attacked."

"Really? Who were they?"

"Rei Kon and Kai Hiwatari."

Stephania felt her heart stop and her blood turned ice cold. Someone had attacked Kai, her only family left that still cared about her, her very own brother who she had selfishly left behind at the Abbey. And it wasn't hard to figure out who. She jogged up to the two boys she had been following.

"Hey! Excuse me!" she called after them. They both stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I heard you say something about a Kai Hiwatari?" she asked.

The boy looked at her strangely. "Yeah, he's a member of the Bladebreakers. What do you want to know?"

"These 'Bladebreakers', do you know where I could find them?"

"Yamahoshi Hospital. It's straight north of here. Why—

"Thank you!" she said, cutting him off, then she turned and ran in the direction of the hospital, her slate colored hair streaked with cobalt trailing behind her.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

"Hey Lee," Tyson greeted as Lee walked back into the waiting room. "Did you find Mariah?"

"Yeah, she was asleep."

"Told you so," grumbled Gary.

"Oh, knock it off!"

"So," began Max, "how did Rei look?"

Lee sighed. "Not to good."

They all hung their heads at the answer. Just then, running footsteps could be heard coming toward the waiting room. A girl who looked to be about 16 or 17 walked into the room and, for some reason, she reminded everyone there of someone. Her waist length, slate colored hair and scarlet eyes made her look extremely similar to…Kai! That's who she reminded them of!

"Excuse me, but are you the Bladebreakers?" she asked.

"We are," answered Tyson, motioning to Max and Kenny. "I'm Tyson, that's Max, and that's Kenny. You know, you look a lot like our friend—

"I need to ask you something. My name is Stephania, and I need any information you have about Kai Hiwatari."

"Oh yeah? And who are you?"

Stephania looked at the ground for a moment, unsure if she could trust them. "I… I can't tell you."

"Alright, then we can't tell you anything about Kai."

"Ok, ok." She took a deep breath. "I'm…I'm his…his…sister." There! She had said it! She had sold herself out! One day, she was going to regret this.

All the members of the waiting room just gawked at her, their eyes wide and their mouths open. Kai had a sister? He had never told them about it. Then again, he usually didn't talk to them at all. He could be a quintuplet (five children born at once, for those who don't know) and no one would know.

"C-come again?" stuttered Kenny.

"Sister," she said slowly, enunciating each syllable. "Look, I think I might be able to help you find Kai. I'm pretty sure I know where he might be. But you're going to have to help me too, ok?"

Everyone remained silent for a moment, before Tyson said, "You can really help us find Kai?"

"I think so. But I'm going to need some help in return. I can't find him alone."

"But we just met you. How do we know that we can trust you?" asked Max.

"Listen, I know how this sounds, but it's the truth. I can prove it to you."

"Oh yeah? How?"

Stephania thought for a moment. Then an idea clicked in her head. "Call Tala. He'll tell you."

"Alright, but if you're lying…"

"I know, I know. If I'm lying, then I'm gone."

They all nodded, except Tyson, who was watching her every move. He wasn't so sure that they should trust her. After all, what kind of sister just shows up out of thin air and suddenly wants to help people she doesn't even know? Besides, just because she looked like Kai, didn't mean that she was related to him. Anyone can dye their hair and put in red contacts.

Tyson made sure that he stayed behind her the entire time they were walking to the phone, just incase she tried to suddenly spring on someone. He wasn't about to risk another one of his friends getting hurt.

**Unknown Location **

Kai awoke to find that every inch of his body was drenched in searing, white hot pain. He struggled to take in air, trying desperately to fill his weak lungs, but no avail. He could only manage to take slow, sluggish gasps. It made him wonder if Voltaire _was _actually trying to kill him. And suffocating wasn't the most pleasant way to die, if there is such a thing as a pleasant way to die.

Kai struggled to open his eyes, but found that they felt like lead, as did the rest of his body. So instead, he focused on trying to find out where he was at the moment. The cold floor and the damp smell suggested that he was back in his cell again. The two morons that were punishing him probably threw him back in there after he had passed out. Kai could still feel the sting of the whip lashes and the ache of the bruises. He probably wouldn't stop feeling them for a long time.

He could hear the creak of the cell door and heavy footfalls on the stone floor. Suddenly, he was being lifted onto his feet by the collar. His whole body felt like it was on fire. He wanted to scream, to yell out, anything! But all he managed was a small moan of pain. An evil laugh drifted to his ears. Voltaire. What did he want now?

"Come on Kai. I know you're awake, so get up!" He threw Kai back down on the stone floor. He might as well have thrown him on knifes.

"I should have known," he continued, watching Kai with pleasure as he struggled to breathe. "You're much too weak to do anything anymore, aren't you Kai? A couple of years ago, you would have never let those buffoons beat you into the state that you are currently in. Of course, I suppose I am partly to blame. I did drug you before the punishment. Still, there is no excuse for weakness here."

Kai didn't answer. Even if he had the strength to, he would have chosen to glare at Voltaire instead. Voltaire snapped his fingers, and Kai felt himself being hoisted off of the ground.

"Come. I have things that need to be discussed with you, and I don't have time to wait for you to heal."

Voltaire walked out of the cell, the BioVolt employee carrying Kai following behind him. As they began moving towards God knows where, a random thought ran through Kai's head. One that he should have thought about the moment that he had arrived there.

'_Am I the only one here?' _

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So, whaddja think? And by the way, guess who's going to be in the next chapter? Go on, guess. That's right people! It's Rei!


	7. Rei's Awakening

Hey everybody! How goes it? I am having such a HUGE writing craving right now. I just can't seem to stop coming up with ideas! It's like a never ending string of words is running through my head!

I know I say this every chapter, but I would like to thank all of my reviewers. Here are your responses.

**Shizuka-Yuki:** Hmmm…am I going to write you a song. I don't know. I was just kinda being sarcastic. You do love my evilness!

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **Sheesh your name is hard to type out! Anyway, yes, Rei will be in this chapter. And don't break your foot! You'll hurt yourself! That's what my mom always does to me and my sister. Every time one of us says ow, she goes "Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!" So now I'm telling you, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself! I have some pretty nutso friends myself, so you're not alone. You said that yours pulled all of Mariah's hair out. Hmm…a bald Mariah. Now that's scary.

**Glitter-Cat91: **I know what you mean. I'll find this really great story, and the author will already be on chapter thirty! I mean, that's a lot of missed chapters!

**Phoenix from the Flames-2: **I'm glad you love it! And don't worry, I plan to make this a long story.

**Rememberx: **Suspense is one of my favorite things to read, so I'm glad that I can crate suspense for other people. As for a hint…maybe. Then again, maybe not. I'm glad you like my descriptions! I'll try to keep it as detailed as possible without boring you to death.

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Everyone seems to like angst here! I know I do! It's fun to write too! I just hope that the reason we like it so much isn't because we're all mental.

**BeyMistress05: **I don't just live fluffy. I LOVES HIM! He is my favoritist thing in the whole wide world! Plus, he helps me keep Rei in check. I told him that if he doesn't stay in character that I'm going to sick fluffy on him, so right now he's lying on the floor, pretending to be unconscious. (I haven't told him about the 7th chapter yet ; )) I read your profile! Do you really have a brother named Rei? Why is it that all the Reis that I've heard of are guys! I am so not a guy! Anyway, were are you from? I'm Japanese/Chinese, but I live in the U.S.

Happy Reading!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade.

**Quote of the Update: Rei**: I hate Mr. Baker! If he makes us do this marching drill one more time, I will be forced to get homicidal! **Holly**: Rei, you're scaring me. **Rei**: I wasn't being serious Holly. Well, maybe a little. But I swear to God that if he doesn't cool it, then for senior prank next year, me and Kylie are going to suspend him from the flag pole! (I said that earlier today when I was pissed off at him. I still am, and I've already got half of the band on my side for that whole flag pole thing!)

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Voltaire Hiwatari was not a patient man. He had no tolerance for insolence or disobedience of any kind. So when he received some shocking news from one of his spies in Japan, you can imagine how impatient he was to find out how he could have been so easily deceived.

It seemed as though the only person he could get information out of was Kai. The boy was still very weak and exhausted from his punishment when he had dragged his limp body out of his cell, but as I said before, Voltaire Hiwatari was not a patient man, and therefore wasted no time in taking Kai to his office to interrogate him. Time was slipping away from him like sand through an hour glass. He didn't have enough time to wait for Kai to heal.

Once Voltaire had made it into his office, he snapped his fingers and the man holding Kai threw him to the ground. Kai landed roughly on his stomach, wincing in pain from his wounds. Voltaire could hear his short, gasping breaths and see the faint rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to breathe.

"So Kai," Voltaire began as he watched Kai weakly push himself up on his hands and knees, "I have just received some rather shocking news from my spy unit stationed in Japan. News about a certain someone that you happen to know quite well. Do you know who that someone is?"

Kai weakly raised his head so that he made eye contact with Voltaire. "How should I, you God damn bastard?" he whispered

Rage swirled around in his grandfather's eyes. Kai had barley enough time to bat an eye before he was sprawled on the floor again, his damaged lungs gasping for air. He looked up to see Voltaire standing over him, his hand raised.

"Don't even try to play your little games with me today, boy! I can see right through them. Now, tell me how you did it!"

Kai struggled to get into a standing position. "How…did I…do…what?" he gasped.

"You know perfectly well what I mean Kai! How did you help her escape!"

"Huh?"

"Stop that right now!" Voltaire gave Kai a swift kick in the ribs, sending him up against the wall of the office. He crumpled onto the plush carpet, taking in short, shaky breaths.

"Don't play stupid with me! How did you help her escape! How did you manage to get her out of the abbey without me knowing? I have eyes everywhere! In this building, in the Abbey, and throughout the entire world! There was no way she could have gotten away by herself! She was far too weak! Now tell me, how did you help her!"

Kai lifted his glazed crimson eyes to stare at Voltaire. He took in a few more rasping breaths before being able to whisper a barely audible work. "Who?"

"Stephania, you fool! Your God damned sister! She's alive! She's in Japan! This information is entirely and utterly impossible! She's supposed to be dead! I did countless tests on her and trained her harder than anyone else, so I know that there's no way she had the brain power to formulate such a brilliant plan of escape without me knowing about it! I know you helped her! So tell me how!"

Even if Kai had the strength to answer his grandfather, he still wouldn't have. He was to deeply submerged in the endless lines of thoughts that were running through his head. Stephania? Alive? It couldn't be. So, all the countless nights he had spent crying himself to sleep, all the thoughts of killing himself, all the pain, was for nothing? Why would she do something like this and not tell him? Why would she run away and not take him too? She knew of all the horrible things that they did to him, of all the experiments and torturous training sessions. So, why did she leave him?

"Answer me when I'm talking to you, Kai!" He picked Kai up by the throat, suspending him in mid air, cutting off his already diminished air supply. Kai could feel the bruises forming on his neck as his grandfather strangled him. He tried to raise his arms so he could pull the evil man's hands off of his neck, but no avail. He couldn't so much as move a finger, let alone raise his whole arm.

"If you won't tell me how you helped her escape from me, Kai, then you shall be punished." He threw Kai roughly to the floor, watching him as he struggled to draw air.

"Take him back to the punishment room. I want him to suffer." The man obliged, lifting Kai off of the ground and carrying him out of the room. Once they were gone, Voltaire let out a fierce howl of rage and punched a hole clear through the wall. He stood there, breathing heavily, his hand still clenched into a tight fist.

"I will find you, Stephania. Mark my words.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Rei could feel the darkness enshrouding him begin to spread. He could feel himself drifting farther and farther away from the world. Even though he was slipping deeper into oblivion, he could still hear muffled shouts around him. He couldn't make out what any of the voices around him, except for one.

'_Mariah?' _

So, Mariah was here with him? Rei was glad that she was here. All the pain that had been numbed for so long was starting to come back to him and it was good to have her there with him.

He tried to focus on the words that she was saying to him. He could tell right away that they were in Chinese. After all, it was his first language.

"Rei," she said in a pleading voice. "Rei, please come back to me. Don't give up now. I need you, Rei. (Obviously that's a translation) I know you can fight this. Please, just hold on a little longer."

Where was he anyway? And what were all the shouts about? And another thing, what was Mariah talking about? He didn't have time to answer those questions because the heavy darkness that had been seconds before trying to swallow him whole had finally lifted, and he could finally see the light again.

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Mariah was kneeling next to Rei's bed, sobbing and clutching his limp hand in her own. She had awoken to the sound of nearly every machine surrounding Rei going off. Before she knew it, doctors were flooding the room, desperately trying to keep him alive. They had paid no attention to her, being far to concerned with Rei, so she had been aloud to stay with him. She was currently whispering words of encouragement to him in Chinese, hoping that it would help coax him back into consciousness.

Then, the worse thing that could have possibly happened, happened. The heart monitor flat lined. Mariah forced herself to block out the terrible sound, telling herself that Rei could and would pull through this.

"Rei," she pleaded. "Rei, please come back to me. Don't give up now. I need you, Rei. I know you can fight this." Rei's body continued to lay motionless, the doctors continued to run frantically around the room, and the heart monitor continued to flat line.

"No," she breathed. "NO!" She began to shake his thin shoulders, desperate to wake him up. "No Rei! You can't leave! You just can't! Please Rei, don't leave now! I'm not ready to say goodbye! Please!"

She sobbed into his arm, all the hope that she had lost. "Please," she whispered. She began to repeat his name over and over again, her voice muffled by her sobs. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Rei's arm began to twitch from underneath her. She raised her head to look at his face, and was delighted to find that he was breathing again. A large smile spread across her face, a smile no one had seen in days.

His golden eyes slowly opened to stare into her bloodshot ones. Despite the tear stains on her cheeks and the disheveled state of her hair and close, Mariah became the happiest being alive on earth when she saw his eyes open again.

"M-Mariah?" he asked in a soft whisper.

"Rei!" She threw her arms around him and began to cry endless tears of joy. "Oh Rei, I thought you'd left me!"

"Mariah, I'm…happy…to see…y-you to…but, I…can't breath."

Mariah abruptly pulled away from him, her cheeks a deep shade of red. "Sorry."

Rei just smiled, then winced in pain. "Rei, are you ok?" She tried to get to him, but the doctors began to crowd the bed. A nurse took a hold of her and led her out of the room.

"Come on, honey. You need to go now."

"WHAT! I can't go! He's my best friend and he needs me!"

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Just relax and we'll take care of everything, I promise."

Mariah sniffled. "Really?"

"Really. Now why don't you go back to the waiting room with your other friends and we'll come get you when you can see him again."

Mariah obliged and walked back into the waiting room. But when she got there, she found it strangely empty.

"Wha—where is everyone?"

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"I told you so."

"Don't rub it in."

"But I did, didn't I? You were so sure that I was some kind of stalker or something. And don't try to deny it either, because I saw you watching me the entire time like a hawk. But I told you so!"

"Why can't you be more like your brother and stop talking?"

Stephania just crossed her arms over her chest. She _had _told him so. When they had tried to call Tala so she could prove her relation to Kai, the only person they were able to contact was Bryan. He said that Tala couldn't talk to them because he was supposedly 'busy'. But Stephania knew better. He couldn't talk because Boris was probably punishing him for something. She hoped that if he was getting punished that it was for something that had hurt that twisted old man. Like, punching him in the nose.

Bryan had been shocked and disbelieving when they had told him about Stephania, but all they had to do was stick her on the phone and he explained everything to them. Now that they knew that she was telling the truth, they were heading back to the waiting room.

When they got there they noticed Mariah sitting in one of the plastic chairs, staring at her hands.

"Well hello there, Sleeping Beauty. What's wrong?" asked Lee once he saw her tear streaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes. As soon as she heard Lee's voice, her head shot up.

"Oh Lee, where were you? And who's she?"

"I'll explain later, just tell me what happened."

"The most wonderful thing has happened, Lee. Rei's awake!" All of them let out gasps and began bombardering her with questions, except Stephania of course, since she didn't even know who Rei was.

"Guys, stop it!" she yelled. The waiting room became silent. Mariah let out a short, agitated sigh. "Thank you. Now, if you want to know about Rei, then you have to tell me about her first." She pointed a finger at Stephania.

Everyone exchanged glances. Should they tell her? Mariah wasn't known for her ability to keep secrets, and if word of Stephania's faked death leaked out, she could be dragged back to the Abbey again. Could they really trust Mariah with that big of a secret?

"Um…well…"

"Yes?" pressed Mariah.

"She's…um…"

"She's a friend of ours!" finished Tyson. All eyes turned to him.

"And what is she doing here? Does she know Rei?"

"Well…no."

"Then why is she here?"

"Because…because…"

"Because she's our new coach." The seven pairs of eyes shifted over to Max.

"You sent out applications for a new coach at a time like this!"

"No, of course not! We sent them out a couple of weeks ago! She's been on the team for a week."

"I see. Now I'll ask you again. What is she doing here?"

"She's here for…um…"

"Emotional support," stated Kenny.

"Yeah, that's it! Emotional support."

Mariah stared at them for a few seconds, then shook her head and looked back at Lee.

"Whatever. It's not important right now. So, you guys want to know about Rei, right?"

They all nodded. "Ok, this is what happened…"

**Unknown Location **

Kai sat in a slumped position against the cold stone wall, looking over his new cuts and bruises. The punishment this time around wasn't nearly as bad as last time; he didn't even pass out. He wondered why his grandfather didn't just kill him. Did he want him to suffer slowly? And was he really that confident that no one would find him? Maybe, or, as Kai had suspected early, maybe not. Kai wasn't a slow person. In fact, he could pick up things ten times faster than most grown adults. He knew his grandfather well enough to know that there was something else going on. For some reason, Voltaire wanted Kai to think that he wanted to kill him, but he was certain that that was just a cover-up plan.

Voltaire had said that after he killed Kai that he would use Tala to fulfill his plans of world domination. While it was true that Tala was more obedient then he was, it was not true that he was close to Kai's level of physical and mental strength. If Voltaire used Tala to take over the world, it was a given that, once again, he would fail.

Kai was no stranger to his family's reputation about having amazing physical and mental strength. Since Kai was the last in the line of Hiwataris, besides Stephania, who was said to be alive, Voltaire wasn't just going to give up on him without a fight. Kai wasn't sure if he should even believe that Stephania alive. After all, no one could prove that she was still alive. And just seeing someone who _looked _like her wasn't proof. Then again, if Voltaire believed it, it might just be true. Of course, his grandfather could be a real idiot sometimes, even if he did have an IQ of 174.

Kai would find out sooner or later if Voltaire's real plan was to kill him. He couldn't keep his real plans for Kai hidden forever. And when he did reveal his true motives, Kai would be ready to smash them into pieces.

**Balkov Abbey **

Tala sat on the edge of the bed in his room at the Abbey. He looked over his arms and chest, bandaging the bleeding cuts he had gotten for his punishment. He didn't really care though. It was worth it to be able to punch that bastard in the nose. If he was lucky, Boris's nose would be broken. He laughed as he remembered the look on his face when he had punched him. Tala had been wanting to do that for a long time.

Bryan suddenly burst into the room, his cheeks flushed and his eyes wide. "Tala! You're never going to believe this!"

"What is it Bryan? What's wrong?" he asked, a small hint of worry in his voice.

Bryan shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. It's Stephania. She's alive!"

Tala stopped bandaging in mid air. His mouth fell open and the roll of bandage dropped from his hand. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I just got done talking with her." Tala stood up and began walking out of the room.

"Wait a minute! Where are you going!"

"To Japan."

"Are you out of your mind! That's, like, 5000 miles away!"

"So?"

"Well, how are you going to get there?"

"Don't know."

"Just hold up, Tala." Bryan grabbed his shoulder, only to have Tala shake him off.

"Listen to me, Bryan. Kai's in trouble and Stephania is the only person I know that could help me. I have to go."

Tala and Bryan stared at each other for a moment, then Tala continued to walk out of the room.

"Tala?" Bryan called once he was halfway down the hall. "Tala! Hey, Tala! Wait up! I'm coming too!"

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I know that Rei wasn't in the chapter for very long, but I kept my promise! I said that he'd be in this chapter and he was! I finally brought Tala back into the story. In all honesty, I totally forgot about him! Anyway, Rei should be around more in the next chapter, so don't anybody worry!


	8. Escaping Voltaire

Hi everyone! Sorry that this chapter took so long. I was gone all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to write at all. Plus, I've been sick for, like, an eternity, so I apologize ahead of time for any typos there may be in this chapter. I'm not saying that there will be typos, I'm just saying that I have been pretty out of it for the last week. I feel asleep, like, three times over the keyboard while writing this. Not that the chapter's boring or any thing…I think. I've just been so tired from all of the medicine I've had to pump into myself.

To all of my reviewers, here are your responses.

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **You really hate Mariah, don't you? And you friend apparently does too! Rei finally woke up! I love him to death and all, but I am so glad that I made him wake up in this chapter so that I can focus on other things in the story. Like the person that is supposed to be the main character of this story. (RT: points to Kai. Kai: Glares.)

**BeyMistress05: **Really? My mom is Chinese and my dad is Japanese. The only reason that my last name is Taylor is because my dad was born in America even though he's 100 Japanese, and, like, forever ago, my great-great grandma on my dad's side got married to this American guy named Taylor. But then they divorced or something before they had any kids and she apparently kept her wedded name and had a baby with this Japanese guy, but didn't get married. Is that confusing?

**Death Fox: **No, I live in Montana, so I am way, way far away from Rita. I hope you guys will be ok though! I've been pretty worried about you guys this weekend!

**Phoenix from the Flames-2: **The Dem. Boys have to care at least a little bit. They're all bonded by childhood trauma!

**Phoenix Reviver: **I know. I haven't been putting Kai in the story very much have I? I just had to get this thing with Rei out of the way first before I could get going on Kai.

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Angst is fun to write. I didn't think that I would like writing like this so much! Not that I'm sadist or anything. I just didn't think that I would like it very much.

**Tears of Eternal Darkness: **Will do!

**Glitter-Cat91: **(sniff) It would suck without Rei, wouldn't it? He's part of the reason I watch the show at all, the other part being Kai.

**Rememberx: **Don't worry, there WILL be more Kai in the story from now on.

**Jani Reime: **I know that I haven't been doing the best that I can with this story latly. I sorry! It's just that I've been sick through most of the story, and it's really killing my writing abilities.

**Kenthomas: **Thank you very much!

**Hurtinphoenix: **(sigh) Yes, poor Rei and poor Kai. Why must stupid Voltaire torture them so! Oh yeah, because if he didn't then I wouldn't have a story, and that would be bad! But, my story is torturing them! What to do, what to do! Life is so cruel sometimes!

Thanks for the reviews peoples!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Quote of the Update: Dizzi: **Hey, if you wanna know something, then just ask the Know-It-All. **Tyson: **That would be you, Kai. **Kai: **You said it. (from beyblade, obviously)

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Voltaire was pacing the floor of his office, racking his brain for any possible ways that Stephania could have gotten away from the Abbey without him knowing. He supposed that she could have fooled the punishers; they weren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the store. Then again, they didn't need to be. Their job was to do what they were told without asking questions. When they were actually presented with a situation such as this, they believed only what their eyes showed them, and if Stephania hadn't been breathing, then they would have immediately assumed that she was dead. If Stephania had showed even half of the progress that her brother had, then Voltaire might have considered the possibility that she could have figured this out and used it to her advantage.

Voltaire let out a sigh. He was going to have to consider hiring punishers with an IQ higher than 85. It was these kinds of situations that could break him. If there was a Hiwatari running among the rest of the world, it could only mean trouble for him. He had succeeded in making every living member of his family despise him, and if one of his enemies with the strength that the Hiwatari family possessed was on the loose, things could get ugly.

He had no choice, then. He would have to see to it himself that Stephania was successfully killed. And this time, he would make sure that it was by his hand. He believed the phrase 'If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself' was appropriate in the current situation. And that's exactly the way it had to be done. By him. Because if she slipped through his fingers one more time, there would be hell to pay.

**Moscow Airport **

"Are you sure that no one will find us here? Especially a no one whose name starts with a 'B' and ends with a 'kov'?

"When did you become so spineless, Bryan? Nobody's going to find us here."

"I am _not _spineless, Tala! I just don't want to die young is all."

Tala just rolled his eyes. "If you were going to be so chicken about this then you shouldn't have come."

"I'm not scared!"

"Then what is the big deal! I told you a thousand times, Bryan! No one is going to find us!"

Bryan silently huffed for a moment as they walked down the airport's hallways to the terminal. "So, how'd you get the money for airplane tickets?"

"I pick-pocketed Boris, that's how."

"Hm…I should try that sometime."

"If my plan works the way I want it to, then you wont have to see Boris again to be able to steal from him."

Bryan gave him a questioning look. "What exactly is your plan, anyway?"

Tala let out a sigh. "I'll tell you when we get there."

Bryan stopped walking and stared at Tala's back. Tala, however, continued to head down the hall.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tala ignored him. "Will you stop walking away from me! Tala? Tala!"

He jogged down the hall, trying to catch up with his disappearing captain.

**Unknown Location **

Kai lay silently on the experimenting table, showing no signs of struggling or resistance. He stared with blank eyes at the wall as the scientists strapped him unnecessarily onto the table. Voltaire's plan was beginning to work. Kai could feel himself slowly slipping away farther and farther into darkness. Soon he would no longer remember anything about his life; he would be merely a hollow shell that his grandfather could use as a lethal weapon.

The scientists paid no mind to Kai's lifelessness, continuing to stick various tubes into his arms and chest. The tubes were connected to bags of liquid, most likely dangerous drugs and chemicals, and started the flow of the fluid into his veins. Connecting him to tubes that would pump the chemicals into him was much more efficient and less tiring for the scientists than having to stand there for hours on end inserting needles into his body.

Once they had inserted all the necessary tubes in his arms and chest, the scientists left Kai alone in the room to suffer. Kai didn't seem to care. In fact, he didn't even seem to be aware of where he was. Although Kai had shown no signs of abnormality for the past two days, the various drugs that he had been given on the first day of his capture had began to affect him in strange ways. The previous night, a BioVolt employee had found Kai lying in his cell, his eyes blank and emotionless, and had informed Voltaire at once. Voltaire had merely been set into a fit of laughs at the sight, obviously delighted to see that his plan was working out splendidly. Stephania or no Stephania, once Kai had been drained of all his memories, nothing could stop Voltaire from dominating the earth.

'_Kai.' _

Kai suddenly felt a warm aura enshroud his body, much different then the icy coldness he had been experiencing not moments ago.

'_Kai, please answer me.' _

Kai remained motionless, showing no signs of life save his raged, irregular breathing.

'_Please Kai, don't let the darkness take you. Fight it.' _

Something sparked in Kai's eyes. He knew that voice from somewhere. It was faint, but he could vaguely remember that soothing, caressing voice.

'_D-Dranzer?' _

'_I am glad that you still remember me Kai. Don't worry, I'm going to try my best to get you out of this mess.' _

'_But how? I left you back in Japan. How did you find me?' _

'_It doesn't matter where you are, Kai. You and I are connected. I'll always be able to find you.' _

'_Dranzer, what's happening to me?' _

'_You were almost taken by the shadows. You mustn't fall victim to Voltaire's plan Kai. It could mean disaster for the entire world.' _

'_What do you mean?' _

'_I can not tell you at the present time. What you need to be concerned with now is getting out of this horrible place.' _

'_You'll be with me, wont you?' _

'_Of course I will. You have my strength.' _

Kai's eyes suddenly flashed back to life. He could feel Dranzer's aura surround him and found a new burst of energy that he had not had before. He sat up on the table, ripping off the straps and tubes as he did so, and headed for the exit. He found, to his advantage, that the door was unlocked. Fools. They must have thought that he was to week to fight the effects of the drugs. Hadn't they learned by now not to underestimate him?

That didn't matter right now. The clock was ticking, and Kai had a limited amount of time before someone came to check on him. He swung the door open, and began to run down the hall.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Tyson suddenly cried out in the middle of Mariah's recap of what had happened in the hospital room.

"What is it?" she asked, rather annoyed.

Tyson pulled a blue beyblade out of his pocket that seemed to be glowing white hot and dropped it hurriedly on the ground once the hot metal had touched the flesh on his palms.

"What is it?" echoed Max.

"It's Dranzer! Something's happening to it!"

"How'd you get that anyway?"

"I took it with me before I left for the hospital so that no one would take it. What's happening to it?"

"Hm…" mused Kenny as he studied the glowing, vibrating blade. He opened his laptop and pointed the small camera connected to it towards Dranzer. "I'm sure that Dizzi will have some explanation for this. Since she's a bitbeast, she should be able to communicate with Dranzer."

"You bet I will, Chief. I'll get right on it."

Everyone crowded around Dizzi and Dranzer, waiting for some explanation for the beyblade's strange behavior.

"Um…he would appreciate it if you would give us at least a 3 inch radius of room, if you don't mind."

Everyone muttered a sorry and backed off from the laptop. The room was silent for several moments, the only sound being the soft humming of Dizzi. Finally, her cynical voice emitted through the speakers.

"Uh, Chief?"

Kenny leaned in closer to the laptop, staring intensely at the screen. "Yes?"

"Well…hm…I… I have some good news…and some bad news."

"What's the good news?" questioned Tyson.

"The good news is…I know where Kai is."

"Really Dizzi! You really know where he is! That's _great _news!"

"Hold on a minute Chief! I'm not done yet!"

"Oh yeah, the bad news. What could possibly be bad about this, Dizzi?"

"Where he is, that's what."

**Unknown Location **

Kai ran blindly through the white halls of…well, wherever the hell he was. Bright, fluorescent bulbs hung from the ceiling, shining light on him as he ran. His footsteps echoed on the marble tiles, letting everyone that might be listening know that someone was trying to escape. Kai didn't care. All he cared about was getting the hell out of this place.

Two large men rounded the corner, their sleeveless shirts showing the bulky muscles on there biceps and triceps.

'_Oh, great. It's the two morons from the punishment room.' _

The men only had enough time to double take before Kai plowed through them as fast as he could. They both landed sprawled on the floor. Lucky for them, no one was around to see the humiliating scene. It's quite embarrassing to see two grown, muscled men being trampled by a kid.

They both laid there for a moment, dumbstruck about what had actually just happened. They lifted their heads to stare at each other for a moment, then quickly shuffled around on the floor, trying hurriedly to get off of the ground. They both looked around for a moment, then ran towards the sound of running footfalls.

Kai could hear the two men lumbering behind him, desperately trying to keep up. He wasn't too worried about that. They may have been stronger then him, but they were no where near as fast as he was. Kai turned a sharp corner, two loud thuds sounding off behind him. He smirked. The two idiots had run into the wall, just as Kai had expected them to. Airheads.

Back around the corner, the two men lay, once again, sprawled on the floor, two rather large bruises on their foreheads. This time, they didn't get up.

Kai continued to run down the hall, two large double doors not thirty feet away from him. That was his exit. When he finally reached the doors, he pushed down the long silver handle. This door was unlocked too. You would think that his grandfather would have come up with a better security system.

Kai began to push open the door and, as if the building was responding to his thoughts, a loud, screeching siren sounded. The white halls turned flashing red, alerting the whole building (as if the siren hadn't done a good enough job) that he was trying to escape.

Dozens of BioVolt men began rounding every corner in sight, each one targeting Kai. It didn't matter. He was already to the door anyways. It was only a simple matter of running out of the building and…ok…maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

As soon as Kai stepped outside, he immediately noticed a problem. It was now, more than ever, apparent that Voltaire really, _really _didn't want Kai escaping. The building had been built on a huge cliff over a roaring sea, in the middle of a jungle, on what was probably a very remote island. Wow. This was going to be tougher than he originally thought.

Shouting in dozens of languages could be heard behind him. He didn't even turn around. Why should he? After all, there was only one way for him to go, and that was down. Quite literally. Without a second thought, Kai began running towards the edge of the cliff. The men behind him followed for a little while, until they realized where Kai was going.

Once Kai reached the edge of the cliff, he leapt off of it, diving towards the crashing waves and sharp rocks below. On the cliff, all of the men just stared, mouths a gap. They all exchanged glances before yelling and screaming at each other, each one making it very clear (in rather colorful language, I might add) how much trouble they were all going to get into for letting the prisoner escape.

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Kai desperately tried to fight off the wild sea, just managing to keep his head above the salty water. A wave crashed over his head, causing him to go under again. After a few seconds, he managed to break the surface and continued to paddle towards shore. If he didn't get there soon, the waves would throw his body against the rocks.

After what seemed like an eternity of fighting off the waves, Kai felt his knees scrape against the sand. He struggled to get up on his feet and walked farther up on the shore. Once he had gotten a safe distance away from the sea, he collapsed on the sand. He could feel Dranzer's strength slowly leave him. Kai supposed that that Dranzer couldn't give him his energy forever. He felt his eyes start to droop. Finally, he slipped into unconsciousness.

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Voltaire sat at his desk, filling out forms for God knows what. The fireplace crackled on the other side of the room, emitting an orange glow around the wine red room. Curtains hung on the walls of the room, each one a deep, rich shade of red. Oak bookshelves were lined up around the room, books of various shapes, sizes and colors filled up their polished shelves.

Suddenly, the brass doorknob on the large, wooden door slowly opened, a rather nervous looking man walking through. Voltaire looked up from his papers.

"Yes?"

"Well…" The man looked at his feet.

"For God's sake, what is it!"

The man jumped slightly, then continued. "It seems that…that…"

"Spit it out, man!"

"Your grandson has escaped," he finished quickly.

You could almost see the steam coming out of his ears, the way Voltaire was fuming. His face turned red and he began to shake with anger. The man crouched behind the door, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S ESCAPED! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!"

The man winced at the loudness of his voice. "We're not exactly sure how it happened. We left him in the lab, and when we came back, he was gone."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LOCK THE DOOR, YOU IDIOT!"

"We figured that he was too weak to escape so—

"WHAT DID I TELL ALL OF YOU BEFORE THIS EVEN STARTED! I TOLD EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU NEVER TO UNDERESTIMATE HIM, DID I NOT!"

"Yes, you did, sir. We just thought—

"WELL YOU THOUGHT WRONG! SEARCH EVERY CORNER OF THIS ISLAND. I WANT HIM FOUND ALIVE! IF NOT, THEN YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE!"

A horror struck expression crossed the man's face. "Y-yes s-sir." He closed the door softly behind him as he stepped out of the office.

Voltaire picked up the lamp off of his desk and threw it against the wall. It made a shattering sound as it broke into hundreds of pieces.

"DAMN YOU, KAI! THIS ISN'T OVER YET!"

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Don't really gots nuthin to say. Sorry guys.


	9. Who's Suki?

Hello all! I am in such a good mood today! Here's why: 1. It's SATURDAY! 2. I'm not sick anymore! 3. I went online and found out that Rei is a unisexual name! I was so afraid that I had a guy's name or something. Every Rei I know is a boy! I suppose I could have just asked my dad if Rei was a girl name and a boy name instead of going online. -.-; Anywho, I am the happiest that I have been in so long! No more flu! No more sneezing, coughing, sore throat, runny nose, medicine head, nausea, or headaches! I'm FREE! (does happy dance)

(clears throat) Sorry about that. I'm just so happy! Anyway, here are my wonderful reviewer's responses.

**Loves Loners: **I'm glad you like the story and my latest chapter, despite the typos. I found two whole typos in that chapter! I was so shamed! But, I guess it can slide since I was sick and all. Thank you so much for reviewing!

**Death Fox: **I'm so glad you're ok! I heard that Rita got pretty nasty. I was watching the news on the TV in this restaurant I was eating at the other day and they were talking about Rita, and I just kept thinking, "I hope they're ok!" I was afraid that you guys had gotten blown away or something! I'm glad you liked the chapter! I though it was pretty good myself!

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **Ohh! Can I be in you club! Lol. And yes, I did know that Kai means selfish cause I have a friend that lives in Japan named Kai that I met when I went to Japan last year to visit my grandparents. It's a good thing he knew how to speak English, because even though I'm part Japanese, I can't speak a word of it! You know, Beyblade seems to be following me around everywhere. I mean, my name is Rei, I have a friend named Kai, and the other day, the waiter that was serving me and my friends was named Tyson. I asked him if he Beybladed, and he looked at me like I was off my rocker.

**SchoolBoredom: **I know what you mean! It's just so fun to watch all the stupid BioVolt peoples get blown away by lil old Kai!

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Yes, they are quite stupid, aren't they? I do like to update as soon as I can, because I know from experience how anxious readers get when it takes a long time to update. This chapter took a little longer because I've been really sick and had a ton of make up work to do, though.

**Redemberx: **I'm wicked and so are my chapters! Yippi! I tried to get a lot of Kai in that chapter cause I've been neglecting him quite a bit.

**Shizuka-Yuki: **What's going to happen next, you ask? A lot of twists and turns, that's what! Stay tuned!

**PhoenixMeredy93: **I so glad you likes my story! I would have been happy to get just two thumbs, but now I'm extra happy cause you gave me ten. Yay!

**WaitingForYesterday: **You think I'm that good? Wow! I am absolutely flattered that you think that my story is the best Beyblade story that you've ever read! You should check out Crossing the Bridge and Russian Skies (sequel to CTB) by starbugkenny. Those are pretty good! And they both star our favorite Beyblade character: Kai!

**BeyMistress05: **Thanks to the girl who gave me my bestest friend fluffy!

Well, that's all for me! Rei out!

**Quote of the Update: Brad: **No matter which way you slice it, it sure is an honor to be in the presence of true greatness. **A.J.: **Aw, thanks Brad! **Brad: **I was talking about Kai.

And now…(drum roll)…another bonus quote! **Kai: **You talk the talk, but can you back it up in the stadium?

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it. Never have, never will.

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Tala and Bryan walked down the crowded halls of Tokyo Airport, hurriedly squeezing themselves through the tightly packed number of people walking in the opposite direction. Twice they had been shoved up against the wall from the immense crowding in the hallways, and Bryan had been nearly trampled at least three times. Tokyo was always like this though. Really, _really _crowded. How could these people think that you could live with cramming millions and millions of people on one tiny island, let alone a city? It was true that Russia also had a high number of people living there as well, but at least the country was a reasonable size to fit them all on it. Japan on the other hand, well that was just downright ridiculous! How anyone could survive living with so many God damned people in a country the size of California was beyond them.

Finally, after a ridiculous amount of pushing and shoving, Tala found what he was looking for.

"A phone?"

"Yes Bryan, a phone. It's this little machine that rings and if you talk through it, someone on the other end will talk back to you."

"I know what a phone is! Why do you need one?"

"So I can call someone."

"Obviously. I want to know who you're calling."

"None of your business," Tala picked up the phone off of the hook and began dialing.

"Why don't you ever tell me anything!"

"Because, big mouth, whenever I tell you something, for some strange reason, everyone else in the whole world finds out too. Now shut up, it's ringing."

Bryan crossed his arms over his chest and planted a pout on his face. Tala just rolled his eyes.

"Hello?" he asked when the person on the other end picked up. "Is Suki there?"

**Unknown Location **

Kai woke up to the sound of exotic birds chirping and the rustling of leaves as the warm tropical breeze blew through them. He slowly opened his scarlet eyes to see the sun's rays filtering through the branches above him as the dawn crept up on the world.

He slowly sat up, only to have the pain that cut through every nerve in his body push him back down to the ground again. His face contorted in pain and he bit his lip so he wouldn't cry out. After having numerous drugs pumped into him, getting treated like a human punching bag, jumping off a cliff, and swimming through 20 ft. waves, his body had had enough.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out through the forest, followed by the sound of gnashing fangs and loud howls. Shouts of men in Russian, Japanese, Chinese, African, French, and American echoed through the trees. Kai bolted upright, the pain hidden behind layers and layers of adrenalin. His grandfather was sending out his idiot cronies to turn the island inside out looking for him.

Kai jumped to his feet and began running as fast as he could through the forest. Branches and leaves crunched under his feet and the limbs of trees swatted him as he ran past. The howls of the dogs became louder and the shouts became closer. He risked looking over his shoulder to see how exactly how close they were.

He could see now what kind of dog is grandfather had ordered to be sent out with his many cronies. Doberman pinschers.

'_Ah shit!' _he cursed. _'Oh all the dogs in the world, he has to pick fricken Doberman pinschers. Well this is just great!' _

Kai looked back in front of him and focused on getting as far away from the dogs as he could. If these dogs were ordered to catch him (which they probably were) then they wouldn't hesitate to tear him apart.

Then, as fast as it had come, all of the noise stopped. He didn't have time to stop and wonder about why. It was likely that this was some kind of trap that they planned to drag him into using his curiosity. He continued to run until he hit the beach. His pace slowly diminished until he was on his hands and knees, taking in shaky, short gasps of air. He could feel his torn lung tear even more from his broken ribs.

He clenched his hands in the soft, white sand and gritted his teeth. The adrenalin rush had gone, and the pain was coming back full force. He looked up as far as he could over the treetops. For the first time, he could see just how big the building was that he had been held captive in.

It was the most enormous thing that Kai had ever seen. It had to have been five times the size of the Abbey, with tall, white towers piercing the sky and thousand of doors and windows dotting the walls. It easily took up a fourth of the island. There was no way that that thing had been built just to hide him in. _Someone _else _had_ to be in there. Probably thousands of someones.

Kai suddenly felt one of his broken ribs puncture the skin, and darkness took him once more.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Everyone crowded around the tiny laptop, each person anticipating Dizzi to speak again. Stephania was rather confused through the whole thing. All she knew was that this…whatever it was…had found out where Kai was being kept.

"Well," began Tyson impatiently, "where is he already!"

"Excuse me, but I think that I deserve at least a please, or maybe a thank you for getting you this far! Just because I'm stuck inside a laptop and you're not doesn't give you the right to be rude! I have feelings too, you know!"

"Ok, Dizzi. Chill out. Could you _please _tell us where Kai is?"

"Much better Tyson. I'm not exactly sure where he is exactly, but I do know that it's somewhere in the Pacific Ocean."

"Well that doesn't help us at all!"

"Tyson, calm down. This isn't getting us anywhere," coaxed Max.

"Nothing is getting us anywhere! We've tried absolutely everything! Even Dranzer can't help us! Let's just face it; we're never going to find Kai!"

"Don't say that!" Everyone turned to look at Stephania, who hadn't said a word since they had gotten back to the waiting room. She stood there with her fists clenched and her face contorted in determination and frustration. "We're going to find him! No matter what you may think, we are going to find him!"

"But Stephania…" Kenny trailed off.

"No buts! There are no _maybes, _or _what ifs, _or _buts _about this. Kai is out there somewhere _alive, _and I'm going to find him! This is the only second chance I'm ever going to get to set things right, and I could really use all of your help."

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Each person stood rooted in their spot, not speaking, or looking anyone directly in the eye. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm in."

All eyes shifted towards Kevin. "Well if the runt can do it, than so can I!" teased Lee.

"Hey!"

"I'm in too!" agreed Mariah.

"I'm with Mariah," Gary joined in.

"They're right! Kai is our teammate and we should have never doubted our chances of finding him for a second. No matter how grim things look, we all have to stick together."

Everyone turned towards Tyson. "Well, are you in?"

Tyson stared at them for a minute, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to help them. Kai was a big part of their team, and Tyson had always stood by his beliefs that a team should stick together. "Are you kidding me? Of course I'm in!"

Everyone cheered, filling the waiting room with noise and laughter (something you don't normally see in a waiting room). Mariah suddenly broke up the celebration.

"Hey! Hey-hey guys! Listen to me! HEY!" Everyone opened their ears and shut their mouths. "I just thought of something," she continued, pointing a finger at Stephania. "Why are you so concerned about Kai anyway, _'coach?'_" They all exchanged nervous glances. Whoops. That little outburst had made it pretty obvious that there was more to Stephania than meets the eye.

"Well, why don't you enlighten us, hm? You don't know Kai, so why would you care so much about him? And, what exactly do you mean by 'second chance', huh? Oh, and one more thing, what's your last name Stephania? And I want the truth."

Stephania stared at the ground, a sullen expression on her face. "Lighten up, will you Mariah?"

"No, I most certainly will not lighten up, Lee! You all know something and you're not telling me because you think that I'll blurt it out to everyone. I'm not stupid! Now who is she!"

"Mariah—

"No. She has a right to know." Stephania sighed deeply, then looked Mariah straight in the eye. "You want to know my last name? Well here it is. _Hiwatari. _Hiwatari, Hiwatari, Hiwatari! Are you happy now!"

Mariah just looked at her and grinned. "Yes I am. Welcome to the team Stephania Hiwatari." She held out her hand to Stephania. She looked at it for a moment, as if she was wondering what to do. She had never been part of a team before, and had never trusted anyone outside the Abbey. Finally, she took Mariah's hand and shook it. Mariah's grin widened.

"All I wanted was the truth, you know. You guys didn't have to go all witness protection on me." They all smiled. Maybe telling Mariah wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"So, you want to fill in all the holes you guys dug for me about her, because I'm still pretty confused."

"Ok," began Stephania, "here's what happened."

**Somewhere in Japan **

The phone rang in the Akiwara household. Kioko Akiwara, a women in her early thirties with curly black hair and chestnut eyes, walked over to the small table in the hallway that the phone was placed on and picked it up, her hand brushing slightly against a small collotype flower in the vase sitting next to the phone, it's pink petals tickling her skin.

"Hello?" she asked into the speaker.

"Hello? Is Suki there?" came a voice out of the other end.

Kioko paused for a moment, wondering what this person wanted with her daughter. "Um…she's not here at the moment, but—

"I'm home!" yelled a voice from the entrance hallway. "Mom, you here?"

"Yes Suki!" she returned. "She just walked in," Kioko said into the phone. "May I ask who this is?"

"Just tell her that Tala needs to talk to her. It's kind of important."

"Alright…" she said uncertainly.

"Suki!"

"Yeah Mom?" Suki asked as she walked across the hardwood floors toward her mother. She looked to be about 17 years old and had waist length ebony hair and sky-blue eyes. Her skin was pale and her cheeks were rosy. Despite her light skin tone, little brown freckles dotted her nose. She wore pink flip-flops that showed the blue toe nail polish she had painted on her nails, blue jeans that were faded from the knee up, and a shirt that said 'Blue Eyed Bombshell' on it. Her finger nails were also painted to match her toes. All in all, she looked just like any fun loving teenager should. But Suki Akiwara had a dark past.

Suki Akiwara was really Kiska Antonina, and she wasn't really Japanese. Suki's parents had died when she was barely a year old. They had lived in a large mansion in Russia, and when Dimitra and Stephan Antonina had passed on, there was no one left to claim the child or the house. Until one day, that is, when a man name Boris Balkov took the girl in out of the goodness of his heart, or so everyone thought. Boris had really taken the girl so that he could take control of her enormous mansion and all of her money and belongings. Boris raised Suki in Balkov Abbey until she was nine years old, when the godparents of the girl had been found living in Japan. According to law, the godparents were the girl's legal guardians, and Boris had no choice but to hand the girl over. So, Kiska Antonina went to live with Kioko and Hiroshi Akiwara and was renamed Suki Nariko Akiwara.

"Someone named Tala is on the phone for you."

Suki froze. Her waist length trench-style coat that she had been carrying dropped to the floor and her mouth fell open.

"T-T-T-ala?" she stuttered.

"That's what he said. He also said that it's important that he speak with you." Kioko stared at the shocked expression on her daughter's face. "Is something wrong?"

Suki blinked her ocean filled eyes a couple of times and shook her head, her ebony hair swirling around her rosy cheeks. "No, I'm fine. Let me talk to him."

"Alright," she said, uncertainty in her tone. She handed the phone to Suki and walked back down the hall. Suki could hear her heals clicking on the wooden floor as she headed for the kitchen.

"H-hello?" she asked shakily.

"Kiska?"

A sharp intake of breath could be heard coming from the girl and her eyes widened in realization.

"Oh my God." Suki raised a trembling hand to her mouth.

"Are you ok, Kiska?"

Suki gulped. "What do you want, Tala?"

She could hear a sigh emitting from the other end of the phone. "I need a favor."

"What do you mean?"

"I need you to come to—

"Oh, no you don't. You are not going to drag me back to that God forsaken county again, Tala. Whatever you need me to do the answer is no."

"But Kiska—

"Stop calling me that! My name is Suki! Why did you have to do this to me, Tala! I'm finally happy and you have to come back into my life again and screw things up! I'm sick and tired of this emotional rollercoaster!" Tears streamed down her pink cheeks and she began to choke back sobs.

"Kis—Suki, calm down. You're getting hysterical. I don't want you to come back to the Abbey."

She sniffled. "You don't?"

"No, but what I'm going to ask you to do will get you mixed up with BioVolt again—

"No! No, no, no, no! I am NOT going to get screwed up again with those insane freaks!"

"Please Suki?"

"No!"

"But Suki, I need you. It's Kai—

"What about him?"

"BioVolt's got him again. Listen to me, if we don't get him out of there then he'll die. I need all the help I can get. I've already got Stephania in Japan—

"Stephania's dead, Tala. You know that."

"Would you let me finish?"

"Sorry."

Tala sighed again. "Look, I'll explain everything to you later ok? But right now I need you to meet me at Yamahoshi Hospital. It's in Tokyo."

"Where are you?"

"Tokyo airport. You'll probably get there before me because I'm sure you have a car by now. When you get there, go to the ICU waiting room and hook up with Stephania until I get there. She'll help fill in the blanks a little, I'm sure."

"Why do you want me to meet you at the hospital?"

"I told you I'll explain everything later. Just be there."

"Alright." She hung up the phone and walked over to where her coat had fallen.

"Mom?" she called, putting one of her arms into the sleeve of her coat.

"Yes?" she answered.

"I have to go. I'll call you alright?"

"Alright, be careful."

Suki picked her keys up off the table and rushed out the door.

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I would just like to say that I promise that the next couple chapters will have more Kai in them, so don't fret! Ok. I'm done now. (walks out of room) Oh, shit! I forgot to submit this chapter! (races back to computer) Stupid, stupid, stupid!


	10. Chasing Down Kai

Hello to all who reside in my little corner of the net! It's Sunday, I have homework and chores to do, and it's frickin 9:00 at night! Isn't life grand! I bet you're all wondering what's going to happen next, aren't you. Well here it is…I don't know. The only time I'm sure of which direction this story is going in is when I'm actually typing it. So if you want to know then I suggest you read it!

Kai: Well duh!

RT: When did you get here?

Rei: The same time I got here.

RT: What! What are you both doing here! Get back in the chapter!

Kai: You haven't wrote it yet.

RT: Hm…good point.

Kai and Rei: rolls eyes.

Anywho, here are the review responses:

**WaitingForYesterday: **Sorry to tell you this, but everyone wont meet at the hospital until the next chapter. That's the only thing I AM sure of. But, look at the bright side. You like my story! And that makes both of us happy! Right? Am I right! (silence) Oh, well, I'm right!

**Storm-of-Insanity: **I totally agree with you! We are so mean to Kai, and we just can't seem to stop! (Kai: I'll say! You guys are evil RT: grins. Sucks to be you!) And even though I'm mean to him, I still love him more than anything!

**SchoolBordom: **Phft! I wish! No, they did not fall into a hole, unfortunately. You'll just have to read and see what happens.

**Shizuka-Yuki: **Kai will be in this chapter, but he'll be in this weird, coma-like state. Sorry!

**Glitter-Cat93: **Don't even worry about it! As long as you review, I'm happy! Huggles!

**I-Ain't-No-F'in-Angel: **Konichiwa! Yes, I have been to Japan, and when I went my friend Kai, who I mentioned earlier, and I listened to some Japanese music. I'm not sure what it was called though. I'll right to him and see if he can send me something from that group your talking about. Sayonara! (It's good to be half Japanese!)

Well that's all from Rei! TTFN! Ta Ta For Now! (don't ya just love tigger!)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it, so don't sue me.

**Quote of the Update: Brad: **Here we are in beautiful downtown…uh…downtown…

**A.J.: **China, Brad. It's a country. (From Beyblade)

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Words cannot express how scared Suki Akiwara was the day that she drove her green Volkswagen Beetle towards Yamahoshi Hospital to meet the one person (or perhaps two persons) that could easily flip her life upside down with the touch of a finger. Her hands were clutched so tightly to the steering wheel that her knuckles had turned white, and the pale flesh on her forehead was glistening with sweat. Her blue eyes were wide and her whole body was shaking.

The last time she and BioVolt had been in contact, it had nearly ended her life. She could still hear the screams; still taste the blood that was so often spilt in that horrible place. If Kioko hadn't found her, she didn't know what she would have done. Despite the warm, loving home that her godparents had created for her, she still woke up some nights screaming, and got nervous every time she heard someone speak Russian, afraid that at any moment, Boris would come back to take her away.

By meeting Tala at the hospital and helping him find Kai, wherever he was, she was throwing her life back into the living hell that for so long she had been terrified of. But then, she thought of Kai and Tala, and about Stephania as well. They were her only reason for living when she was at the Abbey. How many times had Kai gotten punished for standing up for her? How many times had Tala risked his life for hers? How many times had Stephania talked her out of suicide? She owed them something, something so big that only she could give it to them: her friendship, her strength, and her life.

Straightening up in her seat and wiping the look of horror off of her face, Suki Akiwara decided right then and there that a friend is forever, and that's exactly how long she was going to be there for all of them. Forever.

After pulling into the visitor parking lot, stepping out of her car, and locking her doors, Suki walked boldly into the Yamahoshi Hospital entrance doors, her fists unclenched and her head held high.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Tyson jumped at the sound of his cell phone ringing. Stephania and Mariah were sitting at the far end of the waiting room as she recapped exactly what had drawn her to the hospital and, more importantly, who she really was. Max and Kenny were going over something with Dizzi, what that something was, he really wasn't sure. The White Tigers were all sitting together, talking in hushed voices.

Tyson took the tiny phone off his belt and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Tyson, this is Tala."

"Tala!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him for a moment before leaping off there seats like jumping beans and getting as close to Tyson's phone as possible.

"Yes, Tala. Remember me? Red hair, blue eyes—

"I know what you look like Tala. What do you want?"

"I just sent someone over to the hospital to meet you guys. She's an old friend from the Abbey and she might be able to help. She's a little freaked right now so try to be calm around her so she wont get more scared then she already is. Her name is Suki."

"Suki?"

"Suki!" echoed Stephania, her face brightening.

"Yes, Tyson, S-U-K-I. Do you understand me?" teased Tala, talking slowly and enunciating every syllable.

"Knock that off, Tala, I'm not stupid!"

"Coulda fooled me," said another voice snottily.

"Ah, man, you've got Bryan there too?"

"Unfortunately. Hold on a second." A large thumping sound and a whimper that sounded a lot like Bryan emitted from the speaker.

"Anyway, I'll be there in a second. Me and Bryan are trying to catch a cab right now." Tyson could here the sound of cars whizzing by and a really big splashing sound. Bryan cursing in Russian seconds later suggested what had happened.

"You're in Japan?"

"Yeah. We kinda borrowed some money from the Abbey and bought a plane ticket yesterday."

"_Borrowed? Abbey? _You mean you stole it from Boris."

"He had it coming." Tyson laughed a little at that one.

"So are you guys gonna join the Kai search party. We've got jackets and everything."

Tala laughed. "No, we just flew 4000 miles to drink tea."

"I'll take that as a yes. When do you think you'll be here?"

"When Bryan manages to catch a cab and stay dry doing it."

"Tell him to pack an umbrella next time."

"Will do. I'll see you guys at the hospital."

"Alright, and Tala?"

"Yeah?"

"This Suki, she isn't, like, Kai's cousin or something is she?"

"Don't worry, the line of relations stops at Stephania, if you don't count Voltaire, that is."

"I wasn't planning on it. I'll meet you in the ICU."

"Alright." Tyson hung up the phone and looked around at all the faces crowding around him. "Well, that was Tala, as you already know. He said some girl named Suki was going to meet us here."

"Who's Suki?" asked Kevin.

"She's from the Abbey. Me, Tala, Kai and her go way back. She's cool," explained Stephania.

"Is she hot?" Mariah smacked Kevin upside the head.

"I was just asking, Mariah!"

"And I was just giving you what you deserved, you little perv!"

"Aw, look at you two, quarreling like an old married couple," Lee teased.

Mariah and Kevin exchanged horrified looks.

"Yuck!"

"You're gross, Lee!"

Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, right, Mariah. I almost forgot. You're in love with Rei."

Mariah's mouth fell open. "Yep, saw that one coming a mile away," muttered Tyson.

"I am _not _in love with Rei!"

"I don't know, Mariah. You were looking pretty lovey dovey in the hospital room yesterday."

Mariah's whole face went completely red. "I-I…uh…I…h-how—

"Mariah, I'm going to go get something to eat. You wanna come?" intervened Stephania.

Mariah didn't say anything, but nodded her head furiously and followed her out of the waiting room. As soon as she was out of sight, the entire room burst into laughter.

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"Thank you so much!"

Stephania laughed a little. "No problem, you looked like you needed some help."

"Tell me about it." Just then, the two girls heard roaring laughter coming from behind them. Mariah looked over her shoulder and went an even darker shade of red.

"Don't even worry about 'em. They're all immature."

"Try living with one of them. Sometimes I just want to kill Lee! He's always embarrassing me!"

Stephania nodded. "I know how you feel."

Mariah gave her a questioning look. "How?"

"Hey, I have a brother too, you know, and even though we were always inseparable at the Abbey, he still got on my nerves sometimes."

Mariah thought about something for a moment. "I wonder what it would be like to have a sister."

"Probably worse. Big sisters always boss you around and look down on you, and little sisters follow you around, get into your stuff, and never leave you alone."

"And how would you know that?"

Stephania shrugged. "Well, that's what I would do."

Mariah laughed. After a moment of silence, Stephania spoke. "So…"

"So what?"

"About you and Rei…"

Mariah sputtered. "What do you mean?"

"Lovey dovey, huh?"

Mariah flushed and looked down. "Ah, so it is true. I thought so."

"I've probably had a crush on him since the moment I laid eyes on him."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I think it's kind of sweet."

Mariah looked up at her. "Really."

"Yeah." Stephania paused. "So…"

"What now!"

"Is he hot?"

"Stephania!"

"I'm serious. I haven't seen him yet."

Mariah smiled. "Gorgeous."

"Really!"

"Really! Wait till you see him. Every time I look at his face I feel like I'm melting." She sighed.

"Boy, you really are on cloud nine, huh?"

Mariah looked at her dreamily. "Yeah, I am."

"How's it feel?"

"Like your hearts going to break your ribcage because it's beating so fast, and you get really nauseous."

"Sounds like a blast."

"It is."

Stephania sighed. "Well, why don't we go down to the Food Court and you can tell me more about this gorgeous Rei of yours."

"Alright, but when I get to talking about him, it's really hard to shut me up."

"I'll take that chance."

"Ok, but just remember, you've been warned."

**Unknown Location **

"Stop!" All the men stopped pursuing Kai and turned to look at their leader. Adrik was his name; an extremely buffed up Russian with a bad temper (you all remember him right? From chapter 1 and 2?). The dog handlers whistled to Dobermans. All ten came running back to their owners and sat down beside them, waiting for their next command.

"What is it Adrik?" asked a man with a large mustache and a leash wrapped around his fist.

"We'll never catch him this way, storming through the jungle. He'll just run away. We will sneak up on him. That way, we will have the element of surprise. Be sure to hold the dogs. Do not use them unless absolutely necessary."(considering how stupid most of these people are, that's probably the smartest thing that Adrik has said in his entire life. ; ))

The others nodded in agreement and began carefully creeping though the forest, being careful not to step on as many stray twigs as they possibly could. (Wow, the idiots are doing pretty good) It didn't talk them long to hit the beach, were the found the boy lying motionless in the sand, a red stain growing underneath him.

Adrik didn't waste any time walking up to him and kicking him hard in the stomach. He groaned and rolled onto his back. Adrik could see one of his ribs protruding from his upper abdomen. His eyes slowly opened, both crimson orbs glazed over with pain. (RT: geez Kai, you still haven't gone comatose yet? Kai: glares RT: gulp, I know that look…uh, bye!)

"So, we meet again. Remember me?" Kai looked at him with unknowing eyes, but didn't answer.

Adrik frowned. "Listen when I'm talking to you!" He kicked him again. Kai gasped and doubled over, clutching at the red stain on his shirt.

"Um…sir?" Adrik whirled around to face the man that was daring enough to speak to him while he was angry. "What do you want!" he spat.

The man cringed (Chicken. Some of these guys really need a backbone. Whimps, every single one of 'em). "Well…you see sir…Master (master, ha! Ok, sorry, I've intruded enough) Voltaire wanted him brought back alive, and if you keep hurting him, well, he might—

"Stop right there. It sounds like you're telling me what to do. Are you telling me what to do?"

"I-I, well, u-um, I-I—

"Because when people beneath me tell me what to do, I get very, _very_ angry. And when I get angry, people tend to vanish off the face of the earth. You don't want that now, do you?" Adrik cracked his knuckles loudly.

"N-no s-sir."

"I didn't think so." He walked over to Kai and lifted him up by his throat. He made no struggle to try and free himself in any way, merely hanging limply by Adrik's calloused fist.

"What is holding this boy together anyway! I don't know what Voltaire would want with him, it's too late to save the kid," Adrik said to no one in particular. He tossed Kai roughly to the ground, who landed on his side, taking in deep, desperate gasps of air.

"I suppose this is not our problem. Take him back to Voltaire. I want to get this done so I can get paid," he ordered the men. They obliged, and one man slung Kai over his shoulder and began heading back towards the gargantuan building.

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Voltaire sat at his desk, drumming his fingers impatiently on the polished wood. Things were going terribly wrong. Stephania was alive, and Kai had escaped his clutches once again. Now he had to deal with capturing Kai before he killed himself, and killing Stephania was going to take up even more of his time.

One of his employees suddenly entered the room. "Master Voltaire, your grandson has been reclaimed." Voltaire visibly brightened. "Excellent! Bring him in."

The man nodded and another man walked in with Kai slung over his shoulder. He dropped him roughly on the carpet before turning and walking out the oak doors. Kai landed on his back and lay motionless before Voltaire, his unseeing eyes half-way open.

Voltaire got up from behind his desk and began circling him like a hungry vulture. "So Kai, did you really think that you could escape me? Were did you think you would go? This is an uncharted island with no human activity besides my own. Why don't you share the brilliant plan you concocted to escape from here."

Kai lay still on the floor. "No, I thought not. Well, seeing as how you are too incapacitated to answer, why don't we take a stroll down to the lab and have them fix you up."

Voltaire snapped his fingers and the same man that had brought Kai into the office entered the room, slung him over his shoulder again, and walked back out. Voltaire picked his phone up off the hook and dialed a series of numbers.

"Yes, this is Voltaire. I need you to do me a favor. There is someone I want you to take care of." He paused for a moment. "The name? Stephania Hiwatari."

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Jeepers Creepers! What's going to happen to Kai! What's going to happen to Stephania! And, what's going to happen to Rei! Our poor bishies! One's in the hospital, and the other one's an inch away from slipping into a coma! What is Voltaire planning to do! And will someone please kill Adrik! This is too much for me! I must retire for the moment to let it all sink in! Toodles!


	11. Tala Arrives

Hi guys. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My grandma was in the hospital for three days with heart problems, so I didn't really feel like writing anything angesty. I hope you all understand. Anywho, enough with the drama! Let's cut right to the chase! Another reason I haven't updated yet is because I had marching festival last week. As you all know, I am being forced by my parental units to join this ridiculous and humiliating thing they call marching band, so I have been forced to drag my sorry little ass (as my band director calls it. Honestly, I don't think it looks all that sorry. But unfortunately, it is quite little. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask.) to numerous rehearsals at ridiculous times of the day. Then, when I did go to marching festival, I didn't get home till 11:00 pm! So I wasn't home all day. We got a 1 though, which is the highest score you can get, so that was cool. We did freshmen initiation in band yesterday, too, so that was pretty funny.(anyone who's been a freshmen in band, you know what I mean. You should have seen what they made us do when we were freshmen! It was humiliating!) Anyway, thank you to my reviewers. Here's your responses.

**Also, I am holding a vote inspired by Shizuka-Yuki. (points down to review responses. Here it is: Should Kai slip into a coma? Please vote!**

**Shizuka-Yuki: **I was thinking about having Kai slip into a coma, but I'm not sure. I mean, the whole coma thing has been so over worked, you know? I'm not sure if I should make him comatose, or try something more original. I don't know, I'll probable have a vote on it. Hmmm…that's a good idea. (goes up to paragraph above responses and puts vote in bold letters) There, now everyone can vote on it! I have a bit of a clue what you'll say!

**Death Fox: **Huh. Maybe she's just naturally sugar high, like Max, or something. (if you don't like Max, please don't take that as an insult.) Well, are you sugar high? I think so!

**SchoolBoredom: ** What is Voltaire up to…No good that's what! What an asshole!(pardon my French) He's lucky he's a fictional character, or I would have so kicked his sorry little behind by now!

**Storm-of-Insanity: **None taken. I know that when I'm hyper, or just in a really good mood, I get pretty carried away in my writing. I know this because I'm the same way in reality. I never stop talking! I do try to restrain myself though, as I will do now. I'm sorry that it was hard for you to read with all of my comments in the way. I'll try to keep them to a minimum. Thanks for the constructive critisim!

**WaitingForYesterday: **Read on, loyal reviewer, and you will see that all is not lost! Kai will escape again! And I know he will because I'm the author and I tell him what to do!( Kai: glares RT: Gotta go! I know that look!)

**Loves Loners: **Yes, poor, poor Kai. But, without Kai and angst, this would not be a Kai angst fic, and if this wernt a Kai angst fic, then this would be no fic at all, and if that happens, then I would have nothing to do to unleash my creativity and I would go completely insane! So it all works out! Except for Kai, that is. Oh well.

**Glitter-Cat91: **Thank you!(catches review and sticks in pocket)

**Redemberx: **No, no, no, by all means, go ahead and kick him in the stomach. Kick him anywhere you want, I don't care! I'm going to kill Adrik off anyway, so go ahead and get all the punches and kicks in while he's still in the fic!

**I-Ain't-No-F'n-Angel: **Arigato! I don't know that much Japanese either, even if I am half Japanese! My dad does though. And my mom's first language is Chinese, so everytime they get into a fight or something, they start screaming in Chinese and Japanese. It's really weird. Anywho, what-ever guy name is will probably die, so don't worry Miko!

**Crazy Shadow Ninja: **As I said in the review above (points up) what-ever guy name is will die, so don't fret! And yes, poor Kai! I love him so!

**KaiHiwatari10: **Aw, thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**Phoenix from the Flames-2: ** Don't worry, all will be revieled in the chapter below! Suki, Bryan, and Tala will be in this chapter a little more, so maybe some light will be shed on the situation.

**MiseryWriter: **I've read one of your stories, what was it called (thinks hard and hurts head doing so). Oh yeah! The Albino Mosquito one! Anywho, thanks for the positive review! (wipes tear from eye)

**Phoenix-Reviver: **Me! Couple Kai! Perish the thought! He's all mine! (grabs Kai and gives him big hug Kai: Hey! Get off of me you insane freak!) As you can see, we still have some relationship issues to work out. But it WILL work out! Mark my words!

**Meira Evenstar: **Welcome to my story! Glad you like it! I know that you're probably not even close to reading this chapter yet, but when you do read it, here is your response!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it. Never have, never will.

**Quote of the update: Max: **All right! What are we waiting for? **Tyson: **Our fifth wheel of course. Kai, are you coming? **Kai: **Hn, and skip dessert?

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Suki walked apprehensively down the white halls of Yamahoshi Hospital. Why Tala wanted to meet her at said hospital, she couldn't really say. It seemed to her like a rather odd meeting place. She supposed that Tala knew what he was doing, though; he usually did…well…most of the time anyway. Even with that current reassuring thought rooted firmly in her mind, Suki still couldn't help but feel her stomach churning with nervousness as she drew closer and closer to the ICU ward. If Kai had been kidnapped by BioVolt, which he had, most certainly, her entire life could be turned upside down and inside out. Voltaire Hiwatari was the kind of person who only had the ability to cause three horrid emotions to fall upon whomever he made contact with: pain, sorrow, and anger. Suki had been shown this first hand, and she wasn't in a big rush to experience it again. Still, she felt somehow obligated to keep her legs moving in the same direction and not causing them to turn around and bolt. These were friends, after all. Sure, she had made new friends in Japan, but would any of them do the same things for her that Kai, Tala, and Stephania had? No, they wouldn't. That's why Suki kept going, that's why she hadn't yet fled the building in panic. Because her friends needed her, and she wouldn't let them down.

She turned a corner once she had finally made it to Intensive Care, and found herself standing smack dab in the middle of a room full of strangers. She scanned the room with her eyes, looking for any signs of someone familiar. The occupants of the room were complete strangers to her, and none of them took any notice to Suki whatsoever. For a moment she thought that maybe she had entered the wrong room. Her gaze shifted to the right of her and she read a sign that said: **ICU WAITING AREA. **So she was in the right place. Then, where was Stephania and Tala? Was this whole thing some kind of cruel joke?

Her worries were subdued when a young woman with long, flowing cobalt hair and shimmering scarlet eyes entered the room from the opposite direction. Suki's eyes lit up. She would know that face anywhere. Despite her sudden burst of happiness, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when she saw a teenage girl with pink hair and golden eyes that shined like the sun walking next to her, each of them laughing about something that Suki really didn't give a damn about. She already knew that she was not going to get along with this girl.

Stephania's eyes slowly traveled to where she was standing, and for a moment, Suki thought that she wasn't glad to see her. The smile faded from her lips and a gasp escaped from her throat. Her eyes shimmered slightly as though she was trying to hold back the tears, which she probably was. Suki brought her attention back to herself and realized that she probably looked the same way.

"Suki!" Stephania cried, causing everyone in the room to jump five feet off of their seats. Before Suki even realized what was happening, she and Stephania were locked in a friendly embrace, tears streaming down both of their cheeks. They began blabbering about how much they missed each other and how worried they both were, while everyone in the background just stared in utter confusion.

"Hold up!" Suki unexpectedly said as she suddenly pulled away from Stephania, her voice slightly slurred because of the congestion in her nose from crying.

"What is it?" Stephania asked, also congested.

"Hold out your hand."

"Why do—

"Just do it." She obliged and held her hand out in front of her. Suki gave it a quick slap, causing Stephania to yelp and pull her hand back.

"Don't you EVER do anything like that to me ever again!"

"Do what?" asked Stephania while trying to shake the sting out of her hand.

"We do no NOT pretend to be deceased and not tell our best friends about it! That was something that I would have liked to have been informed about!"

"Come on, Suki. You know that you would have blabbed it to someone if I would have told you!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well…" she began cautiously, "you have a bit a talking problem."

Suki's mouth dropped open in shock. "I do not and I had every right to know about something like this, and another thing, you had me worried sick because I had no idea what had happened to you and everyone was so worried and you didn't even come back for us either and you should have because all of us are best friends and best friends don't keep things that important from each other and then leave them alone with a crazed maniac that looks like the clown from ICP!" (In case you don't know, ICP stands for Insane Clown Posy and is a gothic band) Suki stood there gasping for breath while the other members of the room, save Stephania, continued to give her the same befuddled look.

"I told you, once you wind her up, there's just no stopping her," Stephania said to the pink haired girl behind her, who giggled.

"What have you been telling her about me?"

"Nothing bad Suki. We were just at the Food Court talking and I knew that you were coming, so somewhere in the conversation the topic was switched to you. Why, am I not aloud to tell her about my best friend or something?"

"Not when you're telling her things about me that aren't true it's not!"

Stephania eyed her suspiciously. "Suki, everyone knows that you talk a lot. Even you've admitted it on more than one occasion."

"I have not!"

"What is your problem Suki? You just said that I was your best friend and that you were worried about me so why are you fighting me like this?"

"W-well, no reason. I just…uh…I….um…"

Stephania raised her eyebrows and nodded. "I see," she said slowly.

Panic washed over Suki's features. "See what?"

Stephania grinned. "You're jealous of Mariah."

Suki did her best to look absolutely astounded. "I am _not _jealous."

"Yes you are!" she accused, pointing a finger in her direction. "You think that Mariah's replaced you!"

"Steph, I am not jealous, ok! I am not jealous!" Suki turned in Mariah's direction. "I'm not jealous," she whispered while shaking her head.

"Sure, Suki. You just believe whatever you want." Stephania waved her hand gently as if shooing away a pesky fly and turned around, walked to the other side of the room, and sat on one of the chairs with her legs crossed.

Suki was about to open her mouth to retaliate when Tala suddenly walked into the room, Bryan at his heels. _'Thank God,' _she thought. "Sorry I took so long," Tala apologized. "Bryan couldn't get us a taxi." They all looked over Bryan. He was coated with water, mud, and what seemed to be trash.

"Did you tell him about the umbrella?" Suki turned her attention to where the noise had come from. A boy with navy hair and brown eyes with a big grin plastered on his face was looking at Bryan with a hint of satisfaction gleaming in his eye. He seemed to know Tala, although Suki didn't know how. She had never seen him before. And how did umbrellas get worked in with taxis? She had a feeling that she had missed something.

"Yeah. He hit me," replied Tala.

"Really? What did you do after he hit you?"

Tala held his heart in mock hurt. "Tyson, what makes you think that I would do anything to hurt and/or humiliate my good friend Bryan here?" Tala put an arm around Bryan, who just scowled.

"The fact that he's covered in trash."

Tala shrugged. "So I threw him in a trash can. He'll live."

Bryan shoved Tala's arm off of him. "You didn't just throw me in a trash can, Tala! You threw me in a dumpster! And not just any dumpster, oh no. You threw in the dumpster behind the biggest bloody sushi restaurant in Japan!" Bryan pulled a fish bone out of his hair and threw it over to Tala, who sidestepped to avoid being hit.

Suki giggled, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Bryan spun around to face her. "And I don't want to hear anything smart coming out of your mouth about any of this, miss blab-o-rama!"

Suki scowled, walked over to Bryan, and thumped him on the head. "Ouch!" he whined, clutching his skull. Suki merely dusted off her hands and sat down beside Stephania while the others sweat dropped.

Tala cleared his throat. "Anyway, sorry it took so long to get here, Suki. I know how awkward this must be for you."

Suki made a sound that sounded like 'pfft!'. "Oh no you don't!"

Tala just glared. "So much for trying to be nice to you, Suki!"

"What'd you expect? That I'd just hop on this merry little ride of yours without complaining along the way? Uh-uh and no-how."

"Well as I was saying, _Suki_, I guess you're all wondering what she, Bryan and I are doing here exactly."

Everyone in the room nodded. "I think I have a plan on how we can find Kai. But I'm going to need all of your help, and that includes Dizzi. That ok with you, Kenny?"

A boy with brown hair, thick glasses, and a pocket protector nodded. "No problem."

"Good. Before I tell you all what I have in mind, I'm sure that Suki would like to know who all of you are."

Suki rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Well duh!'.

Three of the boys in the room stood up and walked over to her. The boy named Tyson spoke first. "I'm Tyson. This is Max," he motioned to a boy with blue eyes, blond hair, and a huge smile on his face, "and this is Kenny." Tyson pointed to the geeky looking kid who was clutching a laptop. "And we're the Bladebreakers. We're all on Kai's beyblading team. He's our captain." They all waved and exchanged 'hi's' and 'heys'. Three other teens stepped up next to introduce themselves. The one thing Suki noticed about them all was that they all had amber eyes (except the one with green hair) and what looked to her like…fangs of some sort.

"I'm Lee," said the one with the black hair and amber eyes. She seemed to her to be the leader of the group. He stood up straight, not slouching and fiddling like the others, and just seemed to have a commanding aura about him. "This is Kevin," he continued, pointing to a hyper little boy with green hair and lilac eyes, "this is Gary," he pointed to a large boy with black hair and…well…she couldn't see his eyes, "and you've already meet Mariah," he finished smugly. The others giggled. Mariah pouted and her cheeks became a rather deep shade of red. Suki did the same. She had already let it become pretty clear that she wasn't fond of her.

"We're the White Tigers. Our teammate is in this hospital right now," continued Lee.

Suki looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?" she asked sympathetically. She could see tears began to well up in Mariah's eyes. For a moment, she felt a little pity for the girl. When she first saw her talking and laughing with her best friend, she had been thinking of nothing but all the ways that she could tear them apart. But one of her best friends was in the hospital; maybe Stephania was just trying to comfort the poor girl by taking her under her wing.

She could see the one named Lee begin to look very sorrowful as well. "He was…um…he was…shot." He seemed to have quite a bit of trouble getting the last word out. "By BioVolt," he added.

"Are you serious?" she asked bewilderedly.

Kevin gulped. "Yeah. It was when Kai was captured. For all we know, Rei could be the only one we know that could have any clue where Kai is, and if he…"

"But I thought Mariah said he had woken up?" asked Gary.

"He had," Mariah whispered. "But like I told you before, the machines and stuff started to spaz out when he did. I didn't even get a chance to see how he was doing. I feel so STUPID!"

"Why Mariah?"

"Because I totally forgot about what happened back in the hospital room! I forgot to ask how he was doing! It's almost been a day and I haven't even seen him yet!" Mariah fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably into her hands. Lee walked over and put an arm around her shaking shoulders. He knelt down and began to whisper words of encouragement in her ear. It seemed to help, and after a while she was able to pull herself together and stand back up again. She sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand before sitting down on one of the chairs and secluding herself from the others.

"Wow. One minute she's fine and the next thing you know, Boom! She's having a mental breakdown," remarked Suki.

"It's been really hard on her. I think that all this chaos with finding Kai and everything made her forget just how serious Rei's condition is. Plus, well, you know…" The others nodded, but Suki looked befuddled. After a moment though, she let out a gasp, smiled and nodded her head.

"Oh I see…"

"See what?"

"She's got a little crush on this guy, huh?"

Lee rolled his eyes. "A HUGE crush, but you won't hear that from her. How did you know anyway?"

Suki smiled and shrugged. "I'm a girl. I know things."

**Unknown Location, yet again. Hm, wonder when it's gonna be a known location. **

Kai awoke to what everyone oh so wishes to be awoken to: the cold, sickening feeling of needles being plunged roughly into your already aching and bruised flesh. Not that Kai wasn't used to getting needles stuck in him. When he was at the Abbey, needles, syringes, and chemicals of all sorts had been a common form of punishment; a punishment that he loathed greatly.

So, out of instinct and pure habit, Kai began to thrash around on the could metal table, trying desperately to escape to chilling touch of the needles and the even more chilling touch of the scientists' evil hands pinning him down with all their strength. But Kai, even in his weakened state, was not one to be taken lightly. Despite his nearly comatose state before, his ruptured lung, many, many cuts and bruises, and various broken bones, Kai was still able to escape their clutches.

Kai thrust his palm upward, breaking one of the men's noses. Another he kicked in the groin, sending the man to the floor with a thud, curled up into a little ball and gasping for air. One he managed to get in the stomach, and the last one had run out of the room in panic before Kai could get to him. He snorted in amusement. Let him run like the coward he was. He was getting out of here this time, before his grandfather could be told about his little tantrum, and before he could get away with his sick plans to brainwash Kai and use him as a little pawn is the sick, twisted game he was playing with the world.

Kai raced out of the room as fast as he could, ignoring the sickening wave of dizziness that was seeping into every crevice of his brain. More than once he had almost lost his balance as he ran down the gleaming white halls, causing him to stumble or lean on a wall for support. He took the same route as he had last time, ignoring the screeching sirens and flashing lights that erupted through the building as soon as he had pushed the handle on the door. Kai abandoned his shoes as soon as he got outside, tossing them carelessly aside and continued to run. This time, he didn't go straight toward the sea-side cliff. That would just back him into a corner like it had last time. Instead, he ran directly behind the building and down the winding, steep cliffs that the towering monstrosity of a building had been constructed on.

Kai could already hear the frantic voices behind him, all of them cursing in every language under the sun. He ignored them and focused on not falling off the narrow cliffs he was running down and into the deep, black abyss beneath him. He looked up to see the mountains above him towering into the billowing gray clouds. Most of the mountain, however, was encased in a thick sheet of hazy mist that seemed to have been caught on the mountain's high peaks. The same mist swelled and churned beneath him down towards the endless pit of air below.

Kai, realizing that the voices were coming closer, continued to hurriedly inch his way along the cliffs, bits of rubble and stone breaking off from under his feet and plunging downward into the abyss. He ignored the sickening feeling of fear that was welling up inside him. He didn't get scared. He _never _got scared. There wasn't room in his life for a ridiculous emotion such as fear. He straightened up and focused on getting as far away as he possibly could from the approaching voices.

After getting far enough down the cliff, the berth became wide enough for him to begin running again. So that's what he did. He ran. As fast as his bare feet would take him. He didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do when he got there. This was an island after all. There weren't many places for him to go. That fact made Kai's hopes of escaping for good begin to diminish. What if he never got away? Had his grandfather finally trapped him for good? Just the thought made him queasy. Kai hated being trapped. That's why he always distanced himself from crowds, buildings, even his own friends. But buildings especially. Buildings had rooms, and rooms had doors, and doors had locks. He couldn't stand being shut up inside somewhere. It reminded him to much of being locked in a tiny cell in the Abbey. So, in a weird way, you could call Kai claustrophobic. In a very weird way.

He continued to run down the treacherous, perhaps fatal beaten path that laid on the cliffs edge, his feet torn and bloody from catching on stones and twigs. The faster he ran, the quieter the voices became, until he could no longer hear anything but the pounding of his feet and the fluttering of his tired heart. Even when Kai reached the end of the cliff, he continued to run. He ran and ran until he finally collapsed in the middle of the dense forest, his torn lung desperately trying to pump oxygen into his beaten body. He lay there, waiting for the inevitable darkness that would soon come and claim him once again. Sure enough, in a matter of minutes, his body finally surrendered to the dark oblivion that he had become so familiar with.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Stephania suddenly let out a shuddering gasp, distracting everyone from what they were doing. They all turned to look at her, searching her face to try and find what the problem was. She was sweaty and shaky, and her eyes were wide with shock and fear. She was taking in deep breaths, and her face was plagued with worry.

Tala looked at her strangely. "Steph, are you ok?" She didn't answer.

"Steph?"

No answer.

"Stephania?" Jumping a foot out of her seat, Stephania looked up to see Tala staring at her.

"Wha—? Oh, I'm fine, Tala."

Tala looked unconvinced. "No you're not, Steph. Tell the truth."

She glared at him fiercely. "I said I'm fine. Just drop it, ok!" Everything was silent for many moments. Finally, Tala replied.

"Ok, I'll drop it. But I still think something's wrong. I mean, people don't spaz out like that for no reason, you know."

"I know that."

"So you'll tell us if anything's wrong, right. You're going to tell someone?"

"Yes mother," she replied sarcastically. Tala dropped it after that and sat down by Suki. Stephania stared at the ground. The truth was, something _was_ wrong with her. Something very wrong. She just couldn't shake that picture out of her head. Kai running for his like, his clothes soaked with blood and his face abnormally pale. She remembered all of the small holes that covered his bare arms as he ran. And then, he had collapsed, and the scene went black. She couldn't help but wonder if this had something to do with her strange 'powers' as some would call them. Like, she and Kai had a weird link of some sort. That would explain the image, even if it wasn't what Stephania had wanted to see. Then a thought struck her. If she could somehow see where Kai was like she had just now, she might be able to find him! All she had to do was learn to focus her energy on him, and maybe she could figure out where he was!

"Guys, guys! I know how to find Kai!" Everyone turned to look at her like she was insane. Maybe she was. Oh well, whatever worked.

"WHAT!" yelled everyone in unison.

"Just listen to what I have to say. I think it will work."

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Whoa, buddy! What in the ! is going on with Stephania? And is Kai good or what? Escaping stupid old Voltaire's clutches yet again! And in the same day too! And what exactly are their so called 'powers' anyway? Well, I know! But I'm not going to tell you…yet. But I will give you a hint. The Hiwataris aren't exactly born with these powers. They all have something in common that gives them these abilities(points to title. Wink, wink.) You wanna try and guess? If you review this story, feel free to and I'll tell you if you're close or not to what I have planned!


	12. Flames of the Phoenix

Hello buds! How are my favorite readers and reviewers out there doing? As you can probably tell, I'm doing pretty good myself. I had absolutely NO homework to night so I get to finish this chapter. I so H-A-P-P-Y! Life, at least for today, is good.

Anywho, I have a lot of review responses to right, so I'd better get going!

**WaitingForYesterday: **I am glad that my writing has brightened someone else's day. Wow…that sounded really corny. Let me try that again…Cool! That's better. As for the powers thing, just look at the title, it's the biggest clue.

**Death Fox: **Max is ok…it's Tyson that I can't stand! Why can't they just cut him already! Or maybe the voice actor could, like, quit or something, and they never find anyone else to play him! Then they would have to cut him out! (clears throat) Anyway, you are very, _very _close on the powers guess. You have it half right. Try guessing again after you read this chapter.

**Kaycomon: **That's one for not being in a coma. Alrighty then!

**Meira Evenstar: **By all means, go! Go watch Beyblade if you must! It's the spice of life! And I can totally relate to you on the work piling up. I'm not even a loud to read a book until all of my chores and homework is done at home. And when you have to clean half the house and do all of that work along with extracurricular activities, it sux big time!

**Kris the ninja pirate: **I'm glad you like how I portrayed Mariah. What do you like about her in my fic that you don't normally like?

**Shizuka-Yuki: **Sheeya! It IS pretty obvious! I'm surprised that more people didn't get it. I mean, it's just, like, sitting there screaming at you! Also, your vote has been counted in. Hurray for chocolate!

**SchoolBordom: **No, they are not going to rescue Kai yet. I haven't exactly figured out how that's gonna work yet. I'm not sure if Voltaire will die or not. I'll probably have another vote.

**Glitter Cat-91: **OMG! You totally scared the crap out of me for a second! I thought for a minute that you really didn't like it! I almost had a heart attack! But I'm glad you did like it.

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Well…you are kinda right…I think. Anyway, that is a good point. Kai wouldn't be the center of the fic anymore if he was put into a coma. And that would suck. And thank you for the concern about my grandma. I really appreciate it. She's better now, just in case you wanted to know.

**Ray-Tiger-Cat: **Well I'm glad you finally reviewed! I can always use more reviewers! You're partially correct about the powers. About 70 correct. But don't worry. Most people were in that range too. This chapter should clear things up a little bit.

**Redemberx: **I don't think that anyone would mind if I kept on torturing him. LOL. That made me laugh! You're pretty funny!

**Raven2547: **OK I WILL

**Moi-Inconnue: **I'm not a Tyson fan either, but I don't want to bash him in my fic. He has his own part to play. As for the ages, this story is right after the world tournament, right? So that would make Kai about fourteen or fifteen. And if Stephania was 7 when he was 5, that would make them two or three years apart. And the others are about a year younger than Kai, which would make them thirteen or fourteen. Savvy?

**KaiHiwatai10: **I glads you like it! Hah! Stupid old Voltaire! Can't even catch what's under his own nose!

**Phoenix Reviver: **Ok…that was weird, but unique, but mostly weird. Although I am glad that you think my story is good. I just can't get enough of being told that!

Well, I guess that Kai won't go comatose. Oh, well. On with the story!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade.

**Quote of the Update: **Can't think of one. Sorry.

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Everyone was silent as Stephania focused all of her energy into locating her missing brother. She sat stiffly on the chair, her eyes closed, face lacking any emotion. They were all crowded around her, none of them daring to blink. Finally she cracked one eye open.

"You know, it's really hard to concentrate with all of you staring at me like that." Apologies were exchanged, followed by each member of the room giving Stephania a good three feet of space. She closed her eyes again, took a deep breath, and concentrated hard for several minutes. After an eternity had passed, she let out a defeated sigh.

"It's no use. I can't sense anything."

"Well," Max started, "how'd you do it before?"

Stephania thought for a moment. "I don't know. It just…happened, I guess. I was just fine one moment, and the next thing I know, I'm having some sort of spazoid vision."

"Is it possible that Kai was the one who made the connection, not you?" asked Tala.

"It could be…" she mused. "He was hurt, or something. He defiantly had something wrong with him. Maybe he sorta subconsciously contacted me without even knowing it."

No one really had an answer for that. This whole mind connection thing was confusing enough without everyone throwing in their two cents at once. "Do you think we should try Dizzi again?" suggested Tyson. "There has to be something she could do. She's the smartest computer I know."

Kenny nodded and opened his laptop, restraining himself from pointing out that Dizzi was probably the only computer Tyson knew, and that computers weren't necessarily smart, considering the fact that their entire systems revolved around artificial intelligence. Dizzi, however, could be considered an exception.

"Hello boys!" Dizzi scanned the room with her mini built in camera before continuing. "And, uh, girls. Speaking of which, who are these guys, sorry, girls anyway?"

"No time for that Dizzi. We need some more help with the Kai situation."

She let out a mechanical sigh. "I've already told you Chief, I've got nothing left to give. The information was hardly what you would call comprehendible, and it was hard to get even that little bit of data out of what I was given."

"Could you please try again?"

"Well," mused Dizzi, "I don't know. Not unless you have more information you can give me."

Kenny, along with everyone else in the room, turned to face Stephania. "Come on Steph," coaxed Suki. "Try again. You're our last chance."

Her gazed turned to the floor. "I don't think I can," she admitted.

"Pleeeeease! Just try!" Everyone gave her pleading looks. Well, it was true. She was their last chance.

"Okay, I'll try." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. For a moment there was nothing, just the darkness behind her eyelids. Then suddenly she felt as if she had just been pulled underwater.

She heard short puffs of breath, as if someone nearby were running. The breaths were labored, like the person had just run a marathon. Then she realized something: she was the one who was making the sound. She could feel a growing stitch in her side and feel her bare feet scrape up against twigs and rocks as she ran. She could hear leafs crunching under hear, as well as the sound of angry shouts. She cautiously opened her eyes. What she saw shocked her.

She was in a forest. Well, not exactly a forest, but more of a jungle. The thick fog that swirled around her seemed to part and allow her passage as she ran through it with all her might. Why was she running anyway? And what was she running from? She tried to stop, but found she couldn't. And then, she fell. Pain shot through her like none she had ever felt. She could feel her eyelids slowly droop as she slipped farther into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard before falling into darkness was the sound of the shouts coming closer and closer.

When she woke up again, she felt cold. Very cold. Like she was lying on a mattress made of ice. Just as she was about to open her eyes to look around, the sensation of being pulled underwater that she had felt earlier came again, and she found herself sitting in the waiting room.

The others were staring at her with concerned eyes. "What!" she demanded.

Suki took a step forward, gulped, and then proceeded to speak. "Stephie," she began shakily, "are you ok?"

Stephania gave them a confused look. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay." It was then that her memory was viciously pulled back to the bizarre events from before. For the first time in seven years, at the most, Stephania felt terrified. She had been scared before, but not like this. She wasn't sure what she was more scared of: she and Kai's minds being freakishly connected, or knowing that her brother was in a LOT of trouble. It was probably a tie.

"Hey guys," she said shakily, "something really weird just happened."

Suki rolled her eyes. "Isn't that what we've been trying to tell you? What happened anyway?"

"I'm not sure. It was like my mind saw inside of Kai. I could see everything that he saw, even feel his pain."

Tyson gulped. "Pain?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And a lot of it. He is in some serious shit guys."

"What did you see exactly?" questioned Bryan.

"It was weird. I was in some kind of jungle—

"That makes sense," interrupted Kenny. "Dizzi informed us that Kai's location was somewhere in the Pacific, whose currents are generally warm and winds tropical. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in some sort of tropical rainforest climate, much like you would find in Hawaii."

"Kai's in Hawaii?" asked a confused Tyson (big surprise, right?).

"It's highly unlikely Tyson. Although Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, Voltaire would be hiding Kai somewhere secluded, and Hawaii is hardly isolated."

Stephania cleared her throat. "Anyway…He was running from…something. I'm not sure what. But there were shouts coming from behind. Angry shouts. In all different languages, too. And then he just passed out. For some reason after that, it was really cold. I mean really, _really _cold."

"What happened after that?" Mariah asked.

"I don't know. As soon as he was about to wake up, I was back here with you guys." Stephania shook her head. "But that doesn't help at all! We still don't know where he is!"

"Actually, it may have helped more than you think," insisted Kenny.

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, considering your description of the area, I'd have to say that Kai would most likely be on an island somewhere near the Tropic of Cancer. From what I can tell, somewhere at least 250 miles off the mainland. I'll have Dizzi run a search." Kenny typed something into the laptop, his hands a blur over the keys. A small beeping sound followed by 'search complete' let them know that Dizzi had found something. Kenny's eyes scanned the screen for a moment.

"We're in luck. There are three major island chains located within 300 miles off Australia. We just need to narrow them down to one."

"Why don't we just go to each one and see if Kai's there?" suggested Lee.

"1. It's way to risky. 2. We don't have that kind of money."

"We could get Mr. D to help us out, especially in this kind of situation," Max retorted.

"Look Max, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help us, but this plan is too dangerous. There are too many things that could go wrong."

"It's nothing more dangerous then we've done before." Everyone nodded in agreement. It was true. They had defiantly seen worse.

"This is crazy! Absolutely insane! We're just kids! This kind of rescue mission would take trained professionals! It can't be done!"

For the first time in…well…ever, Tyson's face became totally serious. "What about Rei, Chief?"

Kenny sputtered. "What do you mean?"

"Think about what those bastards did to Rei! Think about what they're doing to Kai! Two of our best friends are dying because of Voltaire, Kenny!"

"I know that Tyson, but—

"Have you seen Rei yet, Kenny?" asked Mariah, tears stinging her eyes.

"Well, no."

"Come on. Then we'll see what the decision comes to." She turned on her heal and walked down the bustling white hallways, the others in tow. Kenny lingered for a moment before following.

"We're all gonna die."

**Unknown Location **

'_Why is it so cold?' _

Why _was _it so cold? When Kai had passed out, he had been in a warm jungle, not this icy stiffness that he was in now. He slowly twitched his fingers to see if they were still working. His right arm burned with white hot pain. He must have broken it somewhere. Probably when Voltaire's pet gorillas were hauling him down to…wherever he was.

Kai slowly opened his eyes, hoping that the small movement wouldn't cause any pain. A dull ache in his head throbbed slightly, but other than that, nothing. He could make out the faint outline of a tiny window, probably part of a door, with bars on it. Surprise, surprise, surprise. A thin trickle of light escaped through the small window, allowing Kai a small amount of visibility. In front of him he could se his breaths coming out in crystallized puffs, letting him know that the icy chill that had settled upon him was real and not a trick of his mind.

For the first time in days, Kai realized just how bad he looked. He seemed to be leaning against a stone wall, allowing him to see himself in the small amount of light that had escaped into the room. His chest, he realized, was bare, and on it were various scar, nasty looking cuts, and dark, large bruises covering his torso. His arms were also heavily cut and bruised, and his right arm from the elbow down was entirely purple and blue. He must have broken it somewhere along the way. His pants were shredded and caked in blood, along with the rest of his body. He had also noticed that he had lost a considerable amount of weight due to the fact that he had not eaten in three days.

Kai's ears picked up the faint sound of the door creaking. His head shot up to look at who had entered.

"Voltaire."

His grandfather did not look like the happiest person in the world. In fact, Kai could almost see steam coming out of his ears. He stood there in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. His foot was tapping impatiently on the cobbled floor, and his eyes were overflowing with rage.

"I am sick," he began in whisper, "of chasing you around the world Kai. And I am sick of you disobeying every order I give you. I am your superior. I tell you when you can speak, when you can move, even when you can breathe. And yet you still refuse to listen to my orders."

Voltaire walked over to Kai and lifted him up by his broken arm. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain and bit his lip to avoid screaming out. Voltaire's cold features didn't change in the slightest. He tightened his grip on Kai's arm. This time Kai let out a sharp gasp. Voltaire continued to frown.

"Weak little fool," he snarled, throwing Kai roughly to the cold ground. "Why do I even bother with you? You're pathetic. You are the weak link in our family chain, and you shall break us all with your insolence. What's that? No snide remark? No flashy comeback?" He let out a small chuckle. "You really are weak, aren't you? I don't even know why I still have you here. You're worthless—

"Shut up!"

Voltaire was slightly taken aback. He had assumed that Kai was too weak to talk, and yet he had. He looked down to see him struggling to get on his hands and knees. "What did you say to me?"

For a moment, Voltaire could have sworn that he saw a smug little grin on Kai's face. "I told you to shut up! You're wrong! And if you think that I'm going to submit to your twisted little mind games ever again, then you've got another thing coming. It'll be a warm day in Moscow when I let you become the reason that I finally loose my sanity! I'm stronger than you think!"

Voltaire stood there, silent as a grave, with widened eyes, listening to his weak little grandson completely tell him off. This was a good sign. It meant that Voltaire's plans were not at a totally lose. Kai could still be of some use to him.

"Wasn't it you that told me never to underestimate my opponent? Well isn't that the same thing you're doing with me? Don't underestimate me, grandfather, because it will be the last mistake that you ever make!"

Blinding red light suddenly filled the room, ricocheting off the walls and gleaming like the sun. Voltaire shielded his eyes against the intensity of the light, keeping one eye open to asses the situation.

Kai was still kneeling on the floor, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling shakily. Red and gold light seemed to be pouring off of him, and flames seemed to rise from his boy. Suddenly, the flames began to dance and swirl above him. It was then that Voltaire could have sworn that the flames began to take the shape of a giant phoenix. The great bird met his eye. Voltaire could see the pain and anger swirling around in its fiery eyes, and for the first time since he was a child, he was scared. And he had every reason to be.

With a screeching battle cry, the phoenix dived towards him, penetrating his body. Flames roared and crackled around him, and white hot heat began to sear through him. The bird seemed to be punishing him for his wrong doings. It was almost like it wanted Voltaire to feel Kai's pain. He began to feel intense emotions, emotions that he had buried long ago. Fear, anger, pain, sorrow, suffering, and hate. They whirled around inside of him like a deadly tornado, bent on destroying his very being.

The last thing that Voltaire Hiwatari saw before slipping into unconsciousness was his grandson limping past him and out the door.

**Yamahoshi Hospital**

"Hey, guys?" Everyone turned to face Stephania.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go outside for awhile. You know, get some fresh air."

Suki and Tala raised an eyebrow in unison. "You ok?" asked Tala.

Stephania nodded. "Yeah, I've just been in here too long, that's all."

"You don't want to see Rei?" questioned Mariah.

"I don't even know the guy Mariah. And I don't want our first meeting to be in these…conditions."

"Ok…"

"We'll hang back too." Tala motioned to him and Suki.

"Us too," joined Lee. "Don't give me that look Mariah, we'll go in after you guys do. There can only be so many people in there at once. We're already breaking the rules by allowing more than one person in the room at a time."

"Alright…I understand." Lee placed a comforting hand on Mariah's shoulder.

"Well, I'll be going then," informed Stephania. "Bye."

Stephania closed her eyes against the wind, soaking in the cool breeze. It felt so good on her sweaty skin. She had had another one. Another 'vision'. It was real weird, this one. Lots and lots of flames. And heat too. The last thing she remembered was this giant bird thing. It was, or at least she thought it was, made of fire. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. Not a good combination.

Stephania let out a deep sigh. This was so complicated. If only she knew how to develop her powers more so she could actually _use _them whenever she wanted. They really did come in handy sometimes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of purple and green metal. She hadn't told anyone about this, not even Tala and Kai. Her mother had given it to her right before she was taken to the Abbey. She had told her to keep it safe and to keep it away from everyone.

Stephania was pretty sure that almost everyone else in the world had heard about this little piece of metal though. A bitbeast they called it. Hers was a phoenix, just like her brother's. She hadn't seen the bitbeast up close, for she had no beyblade, but the picture on the bit was marvelous.

Even though it was a bird, the phoenix was undoubtedly female. She had beautiful sweeping purple tail feathers lined with green and blue. The top of her head was rainbow colored, and her wings were purple with green edges. A fuchsia colored flame circled around the magnificent creature like a protective barrier. Anstance, her mother had called her. A Greek name meaning 'one who will be born again'. It made sense to name a phoenix that, since phoenixes never really die, but are born again from their ashes.

With all of this on her mind, Stephania didn't even notice the man behind her, slowly approaching with his hands outstretched. He had a shady and sleezy look to him, with greasy black hair and black eyes.

As quick as lightning he wrapped his arm around Stephania's neck and placed a washcloth filled with chloroform up to her nose. She was out cold before she even had time to struggle. He picked her up as soon as he was sure that she had passed out and carried her back to a nearby black van.

What he failed to realize, however, was the small bitbeast that had fallen out of Stephania's limp hand after she had fell unconscious. And bitbeasts see everything, even if they are stuck inside a chip.

A large purple glow began to emit from the fallen bit.

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Incase anyone cares, all of the names of my OCs were researched online. If anyone wants to know their meanings, here they are.

**Kiska: Suki's birth name. It means pure in Russian. **

**Antonia: Suki's real last name. It means beyond praise in Russian. **

**Suki: Suki's adopted name. It means beloved in Japanese. **

**Nariko: Suki's adopted middle name. It means gentle child in Japanese. **

**Akiwara: Suki's adopted last name. Aki means autumn and wara means field in Japanese. Together it means autumn field. **

**Kioko: Suki's adopted mother. It means happy child in Japanese. **

**Hiroshi: Suki's adopted father. It means generous in Japanese. **

**Dimitra: Suki's real mother. It means from Demeter in Russian. So it's basically the female form of Demeter. **

**Stephan: Suki's real father. It means crowned with laurels in Russian. **

**Anya: Stephania and Kai's mother. It means grace in Russian. **

Well that's it for me. Rei out!


	13. Siberia

I'm so sorry guys! It's taking me ages to update! I've just been so engrossed in this vacation I'm taking with my best friends that I haven't had time to think of anything else.

Also, if you're wondering who to thank for this chapter, don't thank me. Thank **MiseryWriter. **Misery is the one who pulled me out of my writing slump by sending me this awesome review recently that inspired me to write this chapter today. So Misery, if you're reading this, this chapter is dedicated to you buddy!

**Meira Evenstar: **Awe, you had a crappy day? I'm sorry. But I'm glad that I made you feel better!

**Storm-of-Insanity: **Wow! You'll have to show me the picture when you're done. And about the underestimate thing, I think that that was more Dranzer talking than anyone. Plus, I thought it was a little dramatic, so I couldn't resist putting it in!

**SchoolBordom: **Thank you for the quote! And yes, it's always fun to see the big idiot evil guys get what's coming to them!

**Shizuka-Yuki: **(Does Happy Dance too) Yup, chocolate _is_good!

**RetaroO: **LOL! Funny stuff! I'm really glad you liked the chapter and don't forget to review this one! I want to hear more from you!

**Redemberx: **(sighs) Sadly, Voltaire is the one that captured her, as you will find out in this chapter, but don't worry! She'll get away…somehow. I'm not quite sure yet. Anyway, Dranzer (and this is just my way of looking at it) can only really enter Kai's body to help him when he is at his weakest state of body and mind, or if Kai wants him there bad enough. Sometimes, he's not even thinking about him, so Dranzer can't always help him.

**KaiHiwatari10: **lol. I just love it when Kai escapes from Voltaire. And right under his big fat nose too! Ha! Take that Voltaire!

**WaitingForYesterday: **Yup, he never does, does he?

**Kris the ninja pirate: **Really? Well, I guess you're right. I think that Rei and Mariah are in more of a friend stage at the moment. I'm glad you liked my bitbeast! She pretty, isn't she?

**Haro-Haro: **Tis a little sad, huh?

**Phoenix from the Flames-2: **Yes, I know! I love writing little cliffys! Although I hate reading them. And don't worry, lots of stuff is gonna be reveled in this chapter.

**Phoenix Reviver: **I haven't decided if Kai's gonna be in a coma yet. I took a vote on it, but I'm still not sure.

**Glitter-Cat91: **Nope. He's still alive. If he wasn't then I wouldn't have an evil villain and an evil plot anymore! So he stays…for now (evil grin).

**Ray-Tiger-Cat: **Huh…I hadn't thought about that. Maybe they'll find it all at once or something, I don't know.

**Death Fox: **Don't worry about it! As long as you reviewed, I'm happy! I love hearing from you guys. And about the whole 'bond' thing, I think it has more to do with their bitbeasts. Cause, you know, that's what gives them their 'powers'. Oh, and I hate Tyson. I really, really do. But I'm not gonna bash him or anything.

**MiseryWriter: **Congradulations Misery! You're my inspiration for the day! When I read your review, I almost cried I was so happy! Seriously, I LOVE you! But in a different way. You so brightened up my whole day.

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

**Quote of the update: "We are not monsters! We are merely humans with inner demonic tendencies!" Me! **

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Kai stumbled down the freezing halls of the mysterious building that he had been put in, crystallized puffs of breath fanning out in front of him. Even the walls themselves were coated in frost and ice, like he had been placed in some giant freezer. His lips were turning blue from the cold, as was the rest of his body. He clutched at his broken arm. It hurt like hell, as well as all his other injuries. And the cold was just making them hurt worse. Kai's damaged lungs were desperately trying to get more air into his freezing body. If he didn't get out of there soon, he would go into hypothermic shock.

Kai quickly looked back over his shoulder. He didn't know what the hell had happened back there, but he was glad that it did. Now he just needed to focus on getting as far away from his grandfather as possible, and staying alive, of course. With each step he took and each ragged breath he drew in, though, it became more and more difficult to stay awake. He could sense that his hearing was fading and his vision was blurring. Just when he thought that he was going to pass out, Kai saw it. A solitary door stood only feet away from him. The light at the end of the tunnel.

Kai grabbed onto the handle, wincing in pain as he did so. The entire door was made of metal (Who was the genius that decided that a metal door in the middle of somewhere obviously very cold was a good idea? Oh yeah. That would be me -.-;). He turned the knob of the freezing door and watched as it slowly swung open. Of course, after the door did open, it was virtually impossible to stand rooted in one spot and watch anything swing open. Why? Because as soon as the door was fully open, a large gust of wind and snow came barreling into the icy hall.

The force of the frosty wind was so great that it threw Kai off his feet. Just before he landed, he turned on his left side so that he would not land on his injured arm. Nonetheless, when he finally hit the frozen stone, he almost screamed. Almost. Falling by any means onto an extremely cold, stony hallway is not at all painless. Especially if you're wearing a tank top, have so many injuries that you've ran out of room to count them on your fingers and toes, and are on the verge of passing out.

Kai composed himself, then slowly began to stand up. Pain wracked every corner of his body, but he couldn't let that stop him. He had to get out of there. He had to get back to Japan and warn everyone about Voltaire's plan. And he was most defiantly not in Japan right now.

Kai plunged through the wind and the snow, desperately trying to get out the door. Once he did, he saw…white. Lots and lots of white and lots and lots of wind. Kai groaned, but it was lost in the gust of wind that slammed into him. So, he probably wasn't on that weird island anymore. He wondered what had happened to all the other people in that building. He hadn't actually seen them, but he knew that someone else was there.

Anyway, where was he now? He recounted through all the places were it snowed regularly. There were a lot. He would have to figure that out later.

Kai braced himself, then slowly walked out the door and into the blizzard. The first thing he looked at (cause there's so much stuff to look at in a snow storm, right?) was the back of the door. He squinted to read the Russian letters that were written on the door.

**Noril'sk, Siberia **

So, he was back in Russia. Well that was just great! Stranded in the middle of a Siberian blizzard. Now that was the one thing he had always wanted to experience. Not.

Kai groaned again, then began trudging through the merciless snows of Siberia.

**Yamahoshi Hospital**

When Mariah entered Rei's room, she didn't find what she had expected. What she had expected to see was Rei lying in bed, an inch from death, as he was the last time she saw him. What she saw was Rei actually _sitting up in bed! _Well! He sure as hell wasn't able to sit up the last time she saw him! He didn't even look like he belonged in a hospital, actually. His skin had its natural tan glow back to it. His eyes were no longer dulled and out of focus, and actually seemed to have their sparkle back.

"Hey guys," he greeted quietly when they all entered the room. Considering what they had been told about Rei's condition, they were all equally shocked as Mariah. They stared at Rei for a while, then began to stare at Mariah, who didn't notice because she was still staring at Rei.

"Who's she?" he asked, nodding towards Suki. She was about to open her mouth when Mariah cut in.

"Rei!" she cried, running up to Rei and throwing her arms around him. She then proceeded to squeeze as much air out of him as virtually possible.

"Oh Rei, we were so worried about you! Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again or I will _kill _you!"

"Mariah…brain…needs oxygen…everything going dark…" Rei managed to gasp. Mariah abruptly let go.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Rei," she apologized. "It's just that…I was so afraid that you were going to…"

Rei just smiled. "No problem." Seeing the tears that were welling up in the corner of her eyes, Rei held out his arms. Mariah smiled from ear to ear and ran (though a little more gently this time) into his embrace. After a few moments they let go, ignoring the sniggers from behind.

"Now, Mariah, answer my question. Who's she?" All eyes turned to Suki. Suki started a bit, then proceeded to speak.

"I'm Suki."

Rei nodded. "And what exactly are you doing here?"

Suki shuffled her feet a bit. "I'm…friends…with Kai, you could say."

"Kai…" Rei breathed. "Kai!"

"What about Kai?"

"Where is he? Is he here? Is he alright? What happened?"

"Rei, calm down! Deep breaths, dude," Max told him.

Rei ignored him. "Will someone tell me where he is? Please?"

Mariah sighed. "I'll tell you—

"No Mariah," interrupted Tyson. "I was there for the whole thing."

Tyson prepared himself to tell the story over again. "Ok. It all started when we got this weird text message from Kai."

Rei raised and eyebrow. "Text message?" From what Rei remembered it didn't seem like they had a whole lot of time to do much of anything, let alone text message someone.

"Yeah. Anyway, it was really short, like he didn't have a whole lot of time or strength to write it." Rei nodded. "It told us that you were down at the pier and that you were injured. So, seeing as Grandpa's out of town, me, Kenny, and Max ran down there as fast as we could, and, sure enough, there you were."

"What happened after that?"

"We took you to the hospital and called the White Tigers. Once they got here you'll never believe who showed up."

"Hmm, let me guess. Lindsey Lohan?"

"I wish! But no. Kai's _sister. _Who, I'll admit, is right up there with Lindsey Lohan."

"Kai has a sister?"

"Yup. Name's Stephania. Looks just like Kai, as far as hair and eyes go."

"Where is she?"

"She's outside right now. Anyway, Steph shows up and we're thinking, yeah, right! No way in hell that Kai has a sister. But, we called Tala," from behind Lee, Tala waved sarcastically, "and they said that Kai did indeed have a sister, though she was supposed to be dead. Apparently she faked her own death to escape BioVolt or something like that. Anyhow, that was when Suki showed up. She's from the Abbey too. Tala called her and asked her to come. Then, Tala himself showed up with Bryan, so now we've got like this whole army here trying to track down Kai. All we know is that he's alive and somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, which helps so much considering how big the damn thing is! That's why we've been waiting for you to get better though before we go and look for him. You were the one who saw last, so you have the most information on who took him and where they took him too."

Rei downcast his eyes. "I remember that there was this guy named Adrik there. And another guy named Viktor. Adrik's the one that shot me though. That's all that happened that was really important. At least, that's all I was conscious for."

"It may be enough Rei." Everyone started slightly when Kenny spoke. They had forgotten that he was even there. And he was the reason they were in Rei's room too.

"What do you mean Chief?" asked Rei.

"If the guys that you mentioned are working for BioVolt, then they most defiantly have and Interpol file. All we have to do is type in their names on the access form, connect them with BioVolt, and we should get pictures sent to us of all the people working for BioVolt with those names."

"But Kenny," protested Max, "there could be hundreds of guys with those names working for BioVolt. We'll never be able to sort through them all in time."

"That's why I'm going to narrow it down by only using those names connected with BioVolt _and _the Abbey. Hopefully, we'll get to them that way. Rei, do you think you could identify the two men if you saw a picture of them?"

Rei nodded. "Probably."

"Good." Kenny opened his laptop and began surfing the Interpol files on the web.

"Hey Rei?" asked Tyson.

"Yeah?"

"How did you get better so fast? The last time we got a status about you, things weren't looking so good."

Rei shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up this morning and felt better than I had in the last two days."

"But Rei, you took a bullet to the stomach. Wounds like that don't heal that fast."

"I don't know Tyson. That's just what happened."

Tyson sighed. "Oh well. As long as you're okay buddy."

Rei smiled, but you could tell that it was forced. "Don't worry Tyson. I'm fine."

'_I think…" _

**Unknown **

The first thing that Stephania realized when she woke up was that, for some reason, whatever she was laying on was rocking. She searched through her memory, trying to figure out what had happened before she had passed out. She had gone outside to clear her head. She remembered pulling out her bit chip, right before she passed out. Staring at a piece of metal sure sounded like a strange way to pass out.

She slowly opened her eyes to study her surroundings. Things were a little fuzzy at first, and everything sounded like it was underwater. Then, slowly but surely, her senses began to clear up. She was in a van. A black van. One look at the amount of machinery around her and she knew that this was a BioVolt van.

'_Dammit!' _she cursed mentally. _'God friken dammit! I can't believe they caught me again! I'm so, so stupid!' _

Then something occurred to her. Who the heck was driving this van? She craned her neck so she could see the driver's seat. A man that looked to be in his late thirties was at the steering wheel. He had tan skin, sandy blond hair, and muddy water brown eyes. An ominous sort of aura seemed to float around him, and the fact that he was even sitting in this van was a sure sign that he was trouble.

"Who the hell are you?" Stephania asked fiercely, especially for someone who had just regained consciousness. The man in the front started a little before answering.

"You don't worry about who I am, kid. You just worry about sittin down and shutin up," he replied rather rudely. Stephania noted his accent. He was American, probably from the shadier side of Brooklyn.

"I'll worry about whatever the hell I want! And don't tell me what to do."

The man didn't answer, but he did pull a hand gun out of his black jacket and point it straight at Stephania.

"You're in no position to be cocky miss. Cause if you're cocky, that means there's something you don't know. That something is that I'm a wanted murderer in three countries and wont hesitate to blow your pretty little head off."

Stephania gulped, then fell silent. She wasn't about to take her chances with this one. Besides, maybe if she didn't die before this whole thing was over, this guy could lead her to Kai. Plus, she had one little advantage left that no moron in BioVolt ever checks for when sent on a kidnapping mission.

Her cell phone.

**Siberia **

It had finally happened. Of course, Kai knew that it was going to happen before he even stepped out the door and into the blizzard.

He had gone completely numb.

He was kind of grateful for it in some ways. He had no shoes on and a sleeveless shirt. Needless to say, the first step out into the cold had been agonizing. After only fifteen minutes of walking, he no longer had any feeling left in his body. Although that stopped some of the pain, it didn't get rid of all of it. Plus, no more feeling meant no more walking, and no more walking meant being stranded out in the middle of a Siberian snowstorm. And that meant death.

Kai collapsed onto the icy snow, taking in short, shuddering gasps of air. So, that was it then. This was really the end. At least he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Then, just when he was about to close his eyes and never open them again, he felt a warm presence surround him. In a matter of moments, the fiery presence was so warm that he could no longer feel the cold of the blizzard.

With renewed strength, Kai got shakily back up on his feet and began walking again. He had to find a town somewhere. He wasn't going to let this snowstorm win. He wasn't going to let his grandfather win. It was that one thought that kept him going, that one thought that had kept him going since he was five years old.

'_I won't let him win. I won't let him win. I won't let him win. I won't let him win…' _

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Sorry this chapter isn't terribly long, but Rei is really tired and need some sleep or she is going to pass out on the keyboard. See ya!


	14. REIning Finally Updated!

Happy Holidays everyone! Sorry I took so long to update. I've been on vacation for the last two weeks, plus with the holidays and everything. You guys know how it gets around Christmas time right? It's insane! I've had so much to do since I've came back, I haven't even been able to think about writing.

Anyway, here are the responses to those reviewers who didn't have that little reply button on their reviews. **Also,** **some of the responses I've just sent out today so some people may not have them yet. If you had a reply button on your review, then that's how I replied to you. So don't freak out if your names not in here. Check your emails or wherever the reply button sends my replies to. **

**Huh, I was going to put a review response here when I realized that all of my reviews had the little reply button…Oh well. Less work for me. **

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Quote of the Update: **Tyson(to Kai): **I'm tired of you walking off when I'm talking! **Kai: **(walks off). **Tyson: **Hey!

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Stephania was leaned back on the leather interior of the van she had been kidnapped in, which just happened to be driven by a wanted murderer. She had decided to keep her mouth shut for the moment, on account of the fact that this guy had a gun and was most likely mentally unstable. Everyone at BioVolt was. But Stephania was a stubborn and fiery young lady, not one to stay quiet for long. Especially in a situation like this. Plus, she had a plan. And no plan can be executed by staying quiet forever.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Stephania complained in her best whiny voice.

"Shut up!" was the response.

"But I really have to go."

Insane murderer dude whipped out his gun and pointed at her again. "I said shut up!"

Stephania just rolled her eyes and pushed the gun's barrel away with her index finger.

"You think that thing actually scares me?"

"Loaded guns usually scare most people."

"Well, I'm not most people, and I really have to go to the bathroom."

"You don't think I'll shoot you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Actually, no. Kidnappers usually don't kill their victims until they get what they want. And I doubt that all you want is for me to sit in your spiffy little van for ten minutes before you kill me."

He was silent for a moment, then he put his gun away and said, "You've been through this before, haven't you?"

"A ridiculous number of times. Now, about that bathroom break…"

"Fine, I'll make a stop. But only if you shut up."

"Deal." Stephania inwardly smirked. This guy wasn't as smart as he looked. He probably wasn't even a wanted murderer. He'd probably murdered someone before, but she doubted that he was wanted in three countries. If he was, he had gotten there by on pure luck.

"So…What's your name?" she asked.

The man snorted in amusement. "Like I'm gonna tell you. Besides, you said you'd shut up if we stopped."

"I changed my mind, now answer the question."

A vein pulsed in the man's temple. Stephania let out a soft laugh. She loved annoying the bad guys.

"Jack."

"Like Jack the Ripper? Do I look like a prostitute to you?"

"Will you shut up already!"

Stephania closed her mouth and smiled. Who was in control now?

Jack pulled off at a rest stop and got out of the car. He opened Stephania's door and roughly pulled her out. Then, he walked up to the lady's bathrooms with her and shoved her through the door.

Stephania ran quickly into one of the stalls and locked the door. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed three numbers.

911.

**Yamahoshi Hospital **

Suki snuck slowly out of Rei's room and began walking through the clean and busy halls of the hospital. She figured she'd give them all a little time to get catch up with their friend Rei. Besides, she wanted to make sure that Steph was okay.

She dodged an oncoming stretcher. She was getting really tired of being in this hospital. She hated hospitals. Why did they have to be full of so many sick people anyway?

Suki tucked a stray strand of raven hair behind her pierced ear and sighed. The sooner this whole thing was solved, the sooner things for her could go back to normal. She was perfectly happy living with her adopted parents, and then all of a sudden, her life got thrown into another whirlwind of disaster. It really was getting old.

Suki pushed open the double doors of the hospital and stepped out into the fresh air. She took a deep breath, then allowed her eyes to scan the area. No Steph. Huh. That was funny. Where could she be?

Suki let her eyes slip to the pavement. Then she gasped. There was Stephania's bitbeast, lying abandoned and alone. She scooped up the metal phoenix. Stephania loved her bitbeast almost more than anything. She would never allow herself to lose it. That could only mean one thing.

With wide eyes, Suki raced back into the hospital and through to the ICU. Things were going from bad to worse very fast.

**Noril'sk **

Kai trudged sluggishly through the snow, his left arm held up to shield his face from the wind and snow. Dranzer's power was starting to wear off, and he was beginning to weaken. If he didn't find shelter soon, he would die, that he was sure of. How long had he been walking anyway? An hour? A day? He wasn't sure. None of that mattered right now anyway.

Kai could feel the icy numbness start to set in again. No! He couldn't lose! Not now. Not when he was so close.

Then Kai saw it. A beacon of light through the icy darkness that shrouded him. The lights of a town came into view. Finally. He had finally made it.

Kai broke out into a run. He had to hurry. He had to get their fast before he passed out. His feet began to scrape against the ice covered pavement of a road, but he didn't notice. He had made it.

Naturally, there were no people out today, and all the businesses were closed because of the weather. But Kai knew one place that was almost never closed.

Kai headed for the police station. A big brick building with the letters, **_Police Station and Jail_**, came into view. Kai ran up to it, threw open the door, and raced into the warmth of the building.

There was no one there, save the receptionist sitting at the front desk. Her eyes were downcast, as she was filling out some paperwork.

"Can I help you?" she asked, not looking up from her papers.

Kai didn't answer. He couldn't. He barely had enough energy to keep standing, and soon that energy would be gone as well.

The lack of an answer to her question caused the woman to look up. She gasped at the condition of the boy standing in the doorway.

"My Lord, child! What on earth happened!" Again, Kai didn't answer. Instead, he closed his eyes and began to fall forward. The woman raced out from behind the desk and caught him before he did. The last thing Kai remembered was the woman calling for help while holding him in her lap. Then everything went blank.

**Rest Stop **

As soon as Stephania had gotten off the phone with the police, she immediately ran out of the stall and locked the bathroom door. She didn't need old Jack the Ripper wanna-be bursting in at the first sound of sirens.

Sure enough, as soon as the sirens of the police cars could be heard, Jack began pulling and banging on the door. When that didn't work, he resorted to cursing at the door. And when that didn't work, he simply made a run for it. Stephania really didn't care if he got away, although she doubted that he would. All she cared about was getting back to her friends.

Stephania unlocked the door and slipped out of the bathroom. She came out just in time to see Jack being read his rights. Just as they were about to put him in the car, she raced out of the rest stop, stood a safe distance away from all the commotion, and waved goodbye to Jack. This sent him into a frenzy, cursing and kicking and screaming.

It was then that Stephania could hold it in no more. So, she did the thing that she had wanted to do since she had been tormenting Jack about having to go to the bathroom. She burst out laughing.

**Yamahoshi Hospital**

Suki burst into Rei's hospital room, her eyes brimming with tears. All eyes naturally turned to her.

"She's gone!"

"Who's gone?" asked Tala. "And when did you leave anyway?"

"Stephania, she's gone!"

"Calm down Suki," soothed Brian. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

Suki shook her head furiously. "No! You don't understand!" Suki held out her palm. When Tala and Brian saw the bitbeast, the nodded in unison.

"Ok Suki, let's go find her." It was at the exact moment that the three were about to head out the door when Stephania herself walked in.

"Steph!" Suki cried, running up to hug her. "I thought something horrible had happened!"

"I'm fine, Suki. I just went for a walk, that's all." She purposefully left out the part about her being kidnapped by Insane Jack. The kidnapping had only lasted half an hour anyway.

"See Suki, I told you there was nothing to be worried about," Brian pointed out.

Suki ignored him. She held out her palm to Stephania. Stephania took the tiny piece of metal and thanked Suki for returning it to her. Behind the two Kenny cleared his throat. They rolled their eyes but gave him their attention nonetheless.

"The search I did on the Interpol files just came back. There were a total of 13 hits. Now we just have to have Rei look through them. When he finds one that looks familiar, we can check to see were this guy is stationed. That should lead us to Kai." Kenny handed the laptop to Rei, who began scrolling through the pictures and criminal histories of the suspects. In less than a minute, Rei had found their man.

"This one," he said, touching the picture on the laptop, sending rainbow distortions across the screen. "I'm sure of it."

Kenny clicked on the picture and scrolled through a more detailed history of the man. "It says here that he has been stationed on an only recently discovered island."

"How recently discovered?" asked Lee.

Kenny read a bit more. "Yesterday."

"Yesterday!" cried Tyson. "And it's already on his Interpol file!"

"They're updated quite frequently Tyson (unlike my stories. Sorry about that guys!)."

"Does it say where this island is located?" questioned Tala.

"Actually, it does. We should contact Mr. Dickinson right away and—

Kenny was cut off by the noise and chaos coming from outside the hospital room. Tyson and Max went out to investigate. He pulled aside a nurse. "Excuse me, but what's going on out here?"

"Turn on the news," she answered simply, then continued down the halls.

Tyson and Max walked back into the room. "Turn on the news, quick!"

On the screen of the TV. was a clear shot of a huge island, a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire billowing above it. Helicopter blades could be heard in the background.

"A recently discovered BioVolt Island (real original name, huh?) went up in flames this morning for reasons unknown," said a reporter's voice. "A total of 7,000 people were killed in the explosion, including a Mr. Boris Balkov," a picture of Boris flashed onto the screen, "CEO of BioVolt. The founder, Voltaire Hiwatari, was nowhere to be found. However, Mr. Hiwatari's grandson and professional Beyblader Kai Hiwatari was discovered in a town just south of Noril'sk. No information on the boy has been given, except that he is being transferred to a hospital in Moscow, as his condition is severe. In other news—

They cut the TV. off. Shocked expressions crossed the faces of everyone in the room. Several mouths hung open.

"T-they found him?" stuttered Tyson, unable to believe the news. "They found Kai? And Boris, he's dead?" No one answered. Not that Tyson had expected them to. This was the most astonishing news they had heard all week. Kai was alive, and in Moscow!

"They said his condition was severe," Tala pointed out, slightly less shocked then the others. "Kenny, contact Mr. Dickinson. Tell him we need ten tickets to Moscow. And hurry!"

Kenny nodded furiously, then ran out to find a phone. "Ten tickets?" asked Rei."

"You're going too Rei. Mr. Dickinson should be able to get the hospital to release you."

Rei just nodded. Everyone else in the room were still rooted in the same spot, too shocked to move. "Didn't you hear me!" Tala shouted. "We're going to Moscow! Start packing!" Silence. "NOW!"

There were blinking eyes and shaking heads all around the room. Everyone left in a matter of seconds to get packing for Russia. Tala left as well.

'_We're coming for you Kai, hold on.' _

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Voltaire Hiwatari was in a rage. He was back at the abbey, cursing and throwing many glass, and expensive, things around the room. Papers were flying everywhere and glass shards were scattered around the plush carpet. He had gotten away! Again! And now he had hospital security on his side. On top of that, Tala and Brian were nowhere to be found. His island, as well as his army of bladers that had resided on it, had just gone up in flames. His CEO was dead. And he was helpless.

Voltaire let out a howl of rage. This couldn't be happening. Not to him. Not to the great Voltaire Hiwatari. The walls were literally crashing down on top of him. Everything was ruined! This was supposed to be a simple plan of attack. Capture Kai, drug him senseless, brainwash him, then rule the world. Was that not simple enough? What had gone wrong?

Images of a large fire bird diving down towards him flashed across his mind. Dranzer. That meddlesome bitbeast! Dranzer was the reason for his downfall. He had to destroy that annoying pigeon. Somehow, someway, that bird was going down.

Voltaire picked up the waste basket and hurled it across the room. This wasn't over. He would be back. And Kai would be begging him for death before the end. He still had options. He still had the abbey bladers, along with numerous contacts around the world.

The phone rang on his desk. Surprisingly, he hadn't broken that yet. "Yes?" he asked impatiently into the phone. And he didn't like the answer. He picked up the phone and slammed it onto his desk. Stephania had escaped as well. But he would have her again, oh yes, he would have her again. Along with Kai and both of their stupid bitbeasts.

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Well there you have it. Boris is dead, Jack's in jail, and Voltaire's losing his mind. But don't worry. There's plenty more to come. Voltaire will have his revenge. (evil grin)


	15. Reunion

Merry Christmahanakwanzaka! This is my gift to all of you! I was going to update on Christmas, but decided that you guys have been through enough suspenseful torture with me and my cliffys and slow updating habits. Sorry that this chapter won't be terribly long, but I didn't have too much to write in this chapter, and I didn't want to make you read endless drabble that I'd have to make up in order for it to be longer.

**Also, remember that I'm sending your review replies to your email, so I won't be doing replies at the beginning of the chapter anymore. **

**Disclaimer: **Don't own nothing.

**Quote of the update: **Never run naked through a glass house. (One of my friends said this, but I can't remember which one)

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Stephania stared blankly through the window of the airplane, watching the clouds go whizzing by. She was fiddling with her hands, her palms slick with perspiration. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this nervous. Even under her grandfather's torturous care had she never felt this kind of agonizing apprehension. What would happen when she finally came face to face with Kai for the first time in nearly 11 years? Would he reject her or embrace her? Would he be mad at her for leaving or would he be thankful that she was still living? The more she thought about it the more the fluttering in her stomach became known.

Stephania wasn't the only nervous one on the plane, however. Tyson was also feeling anxious. The last time that he and Kai had been in contact hadn't resulted well. Had he already ruined any kind of friendly relationship that he and Kai would ever have? Or worse, what if Kai didn't pull through? What if he was in a coma when they found him? What if he never got to apologize? He could only pray that the entire thing would end smoothly. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that something very wrong was going to happen. Tyson let out a deep sigh. They'd just have to cross that bridge when they came to it, which was sooner than Tyson had expected, considering the plane was about to land.

The occupants of the plane could feel the air pressure begin to rise as the plane took a steep dive downwards towards the landing strip. Some were forced to cover their ears in an attempt to stop the ear pain that the pressure was causing, although it didn't help much. Finally, the plane's wheels popped out of the underside of it and began screeching to a halt on the slick pavement, as it was raining slightly. What else could you expect from Moscow but really crappy weather? Anyway, the plane began to slow down from the friction caused by the wheels. Soon it was pulling up to the terminal and the seat belt sign turned off. The Bladebreaker members and the two members of the Demolition Boyz, along with Stephania and Suki, all exchanged nervous glances (The White Tigers decided to return to China, as Rei was doing exceptionally well). Mr. Dickinson was also there, and Tyson's father, along with Judy Tate, were both flying in on different flights

Once the flight attendant had informed them that it was now safe to exit the plane, everyone got up off their seats, obtained their luggage from the overhead storage compartments, and headed for the exit door.

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Mr. Dickinson had managed to get them a BBA bus to transport them from the airport to the hotel, then to the hospital. That's where the teens and the BBA manager resided now, on the bus, I mean. Kenny sat in the front with Max, Rei, and Tyson, Tala and Brian in the second row, and Suki and Stephania in the back. Suki noticed Stephania's nervous state and chose to offer her some condolence.

"You okay?" she asked, concern written on her face. Stephania sighed deeply and rubbed her tired eyes with the palms of her hands.

"I'll be fine," she replied in a soft voice. Suki looked at her disbelievingly.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," Suki answered. "I just think that there's something else bothering you, that's all."

"Suki, give me a break here. I haven't seen this kid in over a decade and it just so happens that I'm related to him. So please just give me some time to compose myself before I lose the small portion of my sanity that I'd really like to keep."

Suki just shrugged and sat back. Fifteen minutes later the bus was pulling into the hospital parking lot. The teens stepped out of the large van, followed by Mr. Dickinson. After talking to the receptionist for a few brief moments, the gang headed for the emergency ward.

Things were pretty hectic in this part of the hospital. Doctors and nurses sped by them, pushing stretchers with them. Carts full of blood transfusions were wheeled down the white corridor. Trays with surgical tools were carried into various rooms. When they finally did make it to Kai's room, the tension was high. Mr. Dickinson turned around to face them.

"Alright everyone, I'll go in first to check up on things while you all wait over there." He pointed over to the waiting room. "Once I'm finished, I'll go out to talk to Kai's doctor, and then you may go in, one at a time, mind you. Understand?" They all nodded. "Good." He dabbed some sweat off of his forehead, then entered the room.

The sullen teens walked slowly into the waiting room, not wanting to wait any longer to see Kai, but having to do so anyway. Stephania seemed to be in the worse state. She was rapidly pacing the floor, mumbling to herself in Russian. Not that she didn't have the right to be nervous.

"Steph, chill. Everything's gonna be fine," assured Suki in flawless Russian.

"I'm not so sure, Suki. What if he's mad at me, what if he's in an extremely awful state and I never get to see him?" she replied, also in Russian. The others that didn't speak Russian just looked at each other and shrugged.

Suki got up and latched onto Stephania's shoulders, stopping her pacing.

"Calm down. Have I ever let you down before?"

Stephania stared at her for a moment. "_N'iet_."

"Exactly. So just try to relax."

Stephania nodded and sat down. At that exact moment, Mr. Dickinson stepped out of the room, his face haggard, and motioned to them that it was alright to go into the room now, then walked off in the other direction. Stephania jumped out of her seat and began pacing again.

"Oh, God. I can't go in there, Suki. I'm not ready."

"It's okay. You don't have to go in first. One of us will. Relax, remember?"

Stephania took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, and sat back down.

"I'll go," volunteered Tyson automatically.

"Tyson, are you sure?" asked Max. "Especially after what happened before, you know? In Japan?"

Tyson nodded. "I know. And that's exactly why I need to do this first and get everything set straight."

"Alright, if you're sure."

"I'm sure," he replied, then walked off towards the room that Mr. Dickinson had walked out of only moments ago.

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Tyson stood outside the door, rooted in his spot. He had been so confident a minute ago, but now he wasn't so sure. He had no idea about what kind of state Kai was in and what he should expect. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious.

Tyson looked over his shoulder back into the waiting area. They all smiled at him and Max gave him a thumbs up. Tyson nodded and turned the doorknob.

To say that the hospital room was simple would be a flat out lie. Most of the time, they are simple, if you have a broken leg. Obviously, Kai's condition was more serious than a broken bone. There were several machines lining the wall, one for blood pressure, a heart monitor, a drip and a blood transfusion, and a respiratory machine. In the middle of the chaos of wiring was Kai. He seemed to be awake, but not in one of his best moods. Even with the respiratory machine, he was still breathing irregularly. Something must have happened to his lungs. His eyes were glazed over from the medication and there was a large cast that went from his wrist all the way up to his elbow. No beyblading for a while, then. Tyson could even see signs of major bruising at the end of the cast. And that defiantly wasn't the only bruise. From what Tyson could see, Kai had taken quite a beating. Not only that, but there seemed to be quite a lot of empty bandage rolls in the garbage. He seemed thinner than he normally did too. Like he hadn't eaten in close to a week. Seeing as that was just about how long he had been missing, it was a likely possibility. So he was malnourished too. That defiantly wasn't good.

"Kai?"

Kai turned his glazed eyes toward Tyson, then did the best he could to roll his eyes. His ego hadn't been damaged, then.

"So, um, how are you?"

Kai gave him a look that screamed 'moron'.

"Alrighty then. Stupid question." There was silence for a moment, then Tyson pulled up a chair beside the bed.

"We were all really worried about you Kai. Even Tala and Brian came to see you. I think that Steph was the most worried though. Suki seemed a little jumpy too."

Kai's eyes widened slightly at the two names. Especially Stephania's nickname. Tyson noticed the change.

"They're both here, Kai. They're out in the waiting area. Steph's just a little too nervous right now to even sit still, but I'm sure she'll come and see you after she's calmed down."

Even if Kai was slightly happy to know that Steph and Suki were okay, he didn't want them involved in this whole thing. Voltaire always had a plan B, and he didn't want them here when that plan was put into action. He could only hope that he was recovered by the time that happened, though he doubted it.

"I'm really glad to see that you're okay, and the others will be too."

Again, the moron look.

"Fine, Kai, I'm glad to see that you're still living."

Kai couldn't have answered even if he wanted too, so he just turned his head away and closed his eyes. He was so tired, and even this short conversation that he hadn't even participated in verbally had worn him out. In moments he was asleep.

Tyson noticed this, but didn't leave. It was so much easier to talk to someone that wasn't conscious.

"Do you know how bad you scared me, Kai?" he asked softly. "Do you have any idea how worried we all were for you? I thought you were gonna die. I thought that they were going to kill you as soon as they had you."

By this time, tears had already started to fall. "And do you know how sorry I am for what I did? I can't help but thinking that this whole thing would have never happened if I hadn't been so stupid." He placed his hand softly onto Kai's, not wanting to wake him up. "What if things had turned out worse than they did? I would have never been able to forgive myself if you didn't make it back."

Tyson stood up. "No matter what you may say or think, Kai, you're our friend, and we really do care about you."

Tyson turned around and walked out of the room.

(Remember people, this is NON-YAOI. This fic started out as a friendship story, thus it shall end as a friendship story. No ifs, ands, or buts.)

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Tyson walked back into the waiting area, wiping the tears off his face as he went. When everyone saw him they immediately jumped out of their seats. It was silent for a moment.

"How is he?" asked Rei.

Tyson sighed. "He's asleep now, but he was in a pretty bad state."

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Stephania.

"I don't know," he replied, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "We won't know for sure until we hear from Mr. Dickinson."

They all nodded. At that exact moment Mr. Dickinson walked up to them.

"What did the doctor say?" asked Tyson.

Mr. Dickinson sighed. "Sit down, all of you." They obliged. "Kai's doctor says that he is extremely malnourished and dehydrated. Besides the bruising and cuts he received, they also found something a little more troubling." Mr. Dickinson paused for a moment, as if not wanting to say what he was about to say.

"What is it?" someone asked.

"They found various amounts of illegal drugs in his blood stream, some of them highly dangerous."

"What kind of illegal drugs?" asked Max.

"They're not sure. Experimental drugs, most likely. They're not sure of the full affect that they will have on Kai's physical and mental health. Besides that, his ruptured lung also presents a problem. Even when he does recover from this horrific ordeal, he will most likely have breathing problems. His arm is also extremely broken, and will never be able to heal exactly back to the way it was before. This could affect his beyblading career."

"Kai's not going to be able to beyblade again?" asked Rei.

"Not necessarily. If he does chose to beyblade again, however, there could be some risks involved. Beyblading with his broken arm could result in future damage. His breathing could also become damaged as well."

"You can't stop him from beyblading, Mr. Dickinson. That's just like trying to stop him from breathing. He'd never go for it."

"I know, Tyson, I'm just suggesting that he should exercise caution when doing so. We don't want him to do any more damage to himself that would result in him not being able to beyblade at all."

They all nodded, understanding what Mr. D was trying to say. They didn't want Kai to be prevented from ever beyblading again.

"Now, why don't I get the bus to take us back to the hotel for some sleep. We'll come back in the morning." Again they all nodded and headed down the hall.

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Again, sorry that this chapter wasn't very long.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HANUKKAH, KWANZAA, AND ALL THOSE OTHER HOLIDAYS!


	16. The New Tournament

High guys! I hope everyone had a good Holiday Break. I sure did. I've been meaning to get this chapter up for some time now, but never got a chance to. You guys know how it is. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own nothing.

**Quote of the Update: **A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has time to get his pants on.-Winston Churchill

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Voltaire sat behind the desk in his study, fingers steepled, a look of pure sadistic glee plastered across his face. He had them. He finally had them right where he wanted them. Plan B had just been but into action, and know one could stop it. Soon, Kai would be back in his grasp, withering in the pain that would be inflicted on him because of his defiance. He would make sure that Kai suffered before the last stage of his plan was set, the stage where it was most important that control over his grandson was his. Without Kai, the plan would crumble. So he would let Kai recover to ensure his survival…for now. As for that wretched sister of his, he had already made plans for her.

Voltaire let out an evil chuckle. In mere weeks, the world would sit nestled in the palm of his hand.

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Tyson watched the rain splatter against the window of the hotel room, not having anything better to do until the hospital opened anyway. What had happened to them? What had happened to the team that he once knew? Better yet, what had happened to their lives? He knew the answer to that though. Voltaire had happened. No matter how many miles separated the Bladebreakers and BioVolt, Voltaire was still able to make Kai and all of his friend's lives a living hell. Even now, with Kai finally back and Voltaire nowhere to be found, their world continued to shatter before their eyes.

Stephania was in a fit. A _huge _fit. Suki was trying to calm her down as far as he knew, but wasn't having much luck, as she was on the verge of panic as well. Tala and Bryan had disappeared in the wee hours of the morning, and hadn't been seen since. Rei had been acting strange ever since the had gotten to Russia, and had isolated himself in his room. As far as Max and Kenny went, Max had lost every ounce of spunk and cheerfulness that he had once possessed, and Kenny wasn't even typing his fingers off on Dizzi like he usually did when he was nervous.

The state that everyone was in was proof that things were going to change. Everything had seemed so carefree before the Bladebreakers had been brought together. Seeing all the things that Kai had to go through had opened up everyone's eyes to the happenings in the world besides the good. Kai had been through so much, but none of it was positive. Tyson had been through a lot too, but none of it negative. Being with Kai had given him an understanding of some of the negative, but Kai still hadn't experienced the positive. Tyson was determined that when all this was over and Kai was healed again, he would help to turn Kai's life around, and on a positive note.

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9:00 finally came around and the Bladebreakers, along with Suki and Stephania, all made their was to the hospital in one of the international BBA buses. Tala and Bryan still hadn't returned from wherever they had gone before. The bus was full of yawns and hung heads. They had all been up since their return to the hotel the night before, their worried minds unable to relax enough for any of them to fall asleep. Stephania was even sleeping, which was probably best for everyone, especially her. Those in the bus that hadn't fallen asleep stared blankly out the window, all of them lost in their own thoughts.

Mr. Dickinson announced that they were approaching the hotel. Suki woke up Stephania, who looked around groggily before sitting up and yawning. The other occupants all exchanged nervous glances. They all took deep breaths, as if bracing themselves to plunge off the end of a high diving board, then stepped out of the bus, ready for day 2.

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The teens followed Mr. Dickinson down the halls of the hospital. Kai had been moved into the ICU the previous night, so they didn't know where his room was. When they reached the ICU, Mr. D. had them all sit down in the waiting room (yet again…I really am getting bored with writing waiting room scenes : P).

"Alright kids, remember what I told you yesterday. Go in one at a time and try not to put any stress on Kai. It would be bad for his recovery. Stephania."

Stephania looked up at the BBA manager.

"That means that you shouldn't visit until he recovers a little more. It's imperative that Kai stay relaxed as possible. You understand, I'm sure."

Stephania nodded. They had told Mr. Dickinson Stephania's story on the plane to Moscow.

"Now that everything is understood, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you kids here for a while. The BBA has requested my presence, so I'm off to the Russian BBA Office. I'll be back as soon as I'm finished, okay?"

They all nodded. Mr. D. nodded as well.

"Good," he stated simply, then turned to leave. The teens sat in silence for a while, then Rei, who hadn't spoke a word since the day before, stood up and announced…

"I'll go in first." No one said anything. Rei took this as a sign that there where no objections to him visiting first that day. He turned around and walked down the same hall that Mr. Dickinson had when he left, only Rei was bound for Kai's room, not the exit. The others stayed behind, not speaking a word, watching him go.

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A plethora of emotions coursed through Rei's mind. He had a hard time depicting all of them, as every negative feeling ever created seemed to be trying to take him over at once. He felt angry at BioVolt for what they had done to one of his best friends. He felt sorrow because of the condition of said friend. He felt remorse that he had been at Kai's kidnapping and had not been able to stop the events that had taken place. He felt vengeful toward Voltaire because of the pain that Kai was feeling because of him. But most of all, he felt confused. Not about Kai, or BioVolt, or even Voltaire, but himself. Ever since he had woken up in the hospital feeling completely recovered, a sense of dread it seemed had found a home in Rei's mind. Why he was fully recovered was a complete mystery to Rei. He should be lying in a hospital right now, not walking the halls of one. It just didn't make sense. This overwhelming feeling of dread and anxiety had caused him to withdraw from the others. He knew that they had noticed this sudden change of character, but didn't press him about it. He figured that they were too caught up in the current events and had totally forgotten about his strange recovery, figuring that he was just upset about Kai. And he was, but that was only half of it.

Without even realizing it, Rei found himself smack dab outside of Kai's hospital room. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed himself walking, let alone making it to the right location while doing so, taking into account his frazzled state of mind.

Putting on a happy face (for Kai's sake, considering…), Rei stepped lightly into the room, just in case Kai was sleeping. Turns out that he wasn't sleeping, and was looking out the window in a daze. Rei noted his glazed eyes. That meant that Mr. D had been right about Kai being pumped full of drugs while he was "MIA" so to speak. Rei had been hoping that the BBA manager hadn't gotten his facts mixed up, but he knew even before he stepped into the room that Mr. Dickinson had not. But, hoping never hurt anyone.

Rei was unhappy to see the number of bandages that covered his captain. His eyes traveled down to the cast on Kai's arm. That one injury must have been the worst for Kai to bear. Until it was finished healing, Kai wouldn't know if he would ever be able to beyblade again. If he couldn't, well…Rei didn't want to think about what Kai would do.

"Kai…" Rei called out softly. Kai didn't appear to have heard him.

"Kai," he said again, a little more loudly. Kai started slightly, then turned his head so that his eyes met Rei's. When they did, Rei could have sworn that he saw a spark in those glazed depths. Rei wasn't surprised. Kai had probably suspected that he was dead, and, even if he didn't show it, Rei knew that he was happy to see him alive.

Kai opened his mouth slightly, his breath coming shallow through the respiratory machine, then said in a quite, horse voice,

"What…are you doing…here?"

A puzzled look crossed Rei's face. "What do you mean?"

Kai's eyes traveled to Rei's abdomen, staring at the exact spot where Rei had been shot.

"You…you were…shot," continued Kai with difficulty, as if it hurt to talk. Then Rei realized that it probably did hurt for him to talk. He recalled what Mr. D had said about his punctured lung. Rei would have to be careful not to question him too much. That would only cause his further discomfort.

"I know," Rei pointed out. "Actually, I'm not sure what happened. But I do feel better. Honest." Rei have him a gentle smile, trying to convince Kai that he was alright. He didn't want him worrying over him. Mr. Dickinson had told them not to but too much stress on Kai.

Kai looked as though he were about to protest, but didn't. He would look more into this 'miracle recovery' later. For now he would drop it.

"Rei…I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

Kai took a breath.

"For…getting you…hurt."

Rei looked extremely surprised. "Kai, please, _don't worry about it. _ I'll be fine. And besides, it wasn't your fault and you know it." In reality Rei had no idea if he was alright, but didn't care at the moment.

Kai didn't answer for a moment. "Rei, would you…tell me about…Steph and…Suki?"

Rei nodded. "Sure." He walked over to the bed and pulled up a chair. He told Kai all about how Stephania had mysteriously showed up out of thin air, the story just sort of spilling out about her disappearance. He told his about Tala and Bryan calling them and telling them about the girl named Suki and how he had previously called her for help. He told him about seeing the massive explosion of one of Voltaire's covert buildings, killing hundreds of prisoners, including CEO Boris Balkov. And finally, he told him about asking Mr. Dickinson to help them get to Russia, and about how Judy and Bruce were also flying in to offer their help as well. Kai listened intently, nodding once in a while, but never saying a word.

When Rei had finished, Kai asked. "Do they…know where…Voltaire is?"

Rei hung his head sadly. "No. He disappeared after you were found." Kai nodded. He had already suspected this, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Kai looked at Rei's outstretched hand. In his palm was none other than Dranzer. On the outside, Kai remained seemingly emotionless, but inside he was overwhelmed. He hadn't seen Dranzer in what seemed like forever, and found it hard to suppress his happiness.

Rei held out the beyblade to Kai, who reached up at took it with his uninjured hand. As soon as his skin touched the blue metal of the blade, Kai felt the warmth of the phoenix spread though his body, and his body noticeably relaxed. As long as Dranzer was with him, he felt safe.

Rei stood up. "Well. I'll leave you to rest. See ya Kai."

Kai nodded and watched him go, tightening his grip on the blue beyblade.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE ORGANIZED ANOTHER TOURNAMENT!"

The outburst from inside the BBA conference room was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire office. Employees' heads shot up from their paperwork, eyes scanning the room for the source of the noise. Numerous phones rung in the background, unanswered by the stunned secretaries. One secretary in particular who had been walking by the conference room when the outburst had been voiced had been so startled that she let out a high pitched yell and threw her hands up, causing the large stack of papers she had been carrying to fly through the air. Some employees got up from behind their desks and pressed their ears to the door to get a better hear of the argument.

The outburst had, believe it or not, come from Mr. Dickinson himself. The usually calm and gentle man was under extreme stress at the moment, and didn't have time to deal with another tournament while one of his best bladers was in critical condition.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dickinson, but there was nothing we could do," explained a young man sitting at the end of the highly polished conference table. "It was a unanimous decision from the BBA Board of Directors. Don't shoot the messenger."

Mr. Dickinson groaned and ran a hand across his face. "I can't deal with this right now. My team captain is not fit to participate."

The man shrugged. "As official team members of the BBA, they are required to participate in all tournaments. You all signed a contract, including your team captain. If you can't come up with four qualified team members, then you'll have to forfeit."

"You can't do this to me! I'm the manager!"

"As I've already said, _there's nothing we can do._"

Mr. D sighed. "How long do I have."

"Three weeks."

"Three weeks! That's ridiculous!"

"That was the date decided. There are over 100 bladers participating in this tournament. We can't postpone it for one blader."

"I've heard enough." Mr. Dickinson stormed to the door and threw it open, causing the nosy employees to fall face first at Mr. D's feet. They quickly scrambled to their feet and hurried back to their desk. Mr. D ignored them and headed for the exit, desperately wanting out of the building as soon as possible.

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Back at the hospital, Mr. Dickinson prepared himself to tell the teens the news about the tournament.

"Kids," he began, looking upon their anxious faces, "I have some bad news." At that moment Rei walked into the waiting room to see Mr. Dickinson about to tell them something important.

"What is it?"

"Mr. D has some bad news, Rei," replied Kenny.

"As I was saying," continued Mr. Dickinson, "The BBA has just informed me that a new tournament is set for less than a month, and the Bladebreakers are required to participate."

"WHAT!" shouted Tyson, Rei, Max, and Kenny in unison, jumping out of their seats.

"We can't blade in a tournament without Kai!"

"What about training! How are we supposed to prepare in less than a month!"

"We only have three bladers! And we can't forfeit!"

"What do we do!"

"BOYS!" yelled Mr. D. Silence fell over the room. "Please try to calm down. I have been thinking of one option, perhaps the only option we have at the moment. But it will only work if she is willing to agree." Mr. Dickinson looked over at Stephania.

Stephania smiled. "Of course I'll blade with you."

Everyone sighed in relief. Hopefully Steph was good at beyblading, cause if not, they could just lose this tournament.

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**(The Day Before) **

Tala and Bryan sat on a crowded bus, making their way back to the Abbey. Ian and Spencer had contacted them at the hotel, telling them about the news of a new tournament that they had to blade in. They had both left to get more information about this tournament without so much as leaving behind a note. Rude, yes. But nothing that wasn't expected of them. Now that Kai was safe, they had no reason to stay anyway. So they didn't.

The bus pulled up to a bus stop a few blocks from the Abbey and the two Demolition Boyz grabbed their luggage and clambered out of the vehicle.

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Not the longest chapter in the world, but hey, no one's perfect. Happy (late) New Years to everyone! Hope you all have a great year.

Until next time…


	17. Training a Lazy Team

Hello all! I have just been struck with writing fever! The day after I last updated, I was watching TV when I got this powerful urge to write. Two hours later, this was the result. I decided not to post it until everyone got to review the last chapter, so that's why it's just been posted.

Also, I would like to thank all of my reviewers for giving me **OVER 200 REVIEWS!** I honestly never thought that people would be that into my story. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

I would also like to say that in chapter 18, things WILL get less boring. I plan to skip ahead to the tournament in that chapter, so just bear with me for the time being, k?

I'm sorry if any of you sent me messages instead of reviews, cause I can't remember what you said. Thanks for sending them, though.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it.

**Quote of the Update: **(Talking about Michael Jackson) Honey, you gotta pick a race first. All of a sudden you're a black man, then you're Diana Ross, now you're Audrey Hepburn. Then he's got the little beard going on. He's like Lord of the Rings, the entire cast. Michael's about to jump species.-Robin Williams

I don't really care about the whole Michael Jackson debate, I just thought the quote was funny. So no one take it the wrong way.

**Another quote that I thought was funny: **Take our politicians; they're a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with a encyclopedia of clichés as first prize.-Saul Bellow

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"Okay boys," began Stephania, "let's get started." Stephania had scheduled a training session for the tournament the day following Rei's visit with Kai. Since Kai was team captain, and since he couldn't compete, Stephania had taken over as captain for the time being. That meant that she was now in control of everything from practices to who would lead off in the beybattles once the competition got underway. Of course, they had asked Kai's permission first. He would have been royally pissed if they had replaced him without consulting him first. Stephania had spent an entire hour in the hospital room, catching up on things with Kai and basically explaining the last 10 years of her life. Once she had done that, she broke the news to him about the new tournament. He hadn't taken it as bad as she thought he would, and had agreed to let her coach his team.

At the moment it was a clear day outside, perfect for beybattling. No rain clouds hung in the air, no mist was rising off the ground in thick sheets, no thunder shook the skies, much like it had the previous day. Only a gentle breeze hovered through the air, causing the leaves on the trees to sway gently when it passed by them. The Bladebreakers and their new captain had chosen a nearby park to train in. It was a Tuesday, so very few people were there, despite the fact that summer vacation was only half over.

The three boys, along with Kenny, looked at each other nervously. They had never had a girl on their team before (Remember, this takes place in-between seasons 1 and 2, so Hilary hasn't been introduced yet.), much less having had one as a captain. It certainly would be different, but if Stephania was anything like Kai, then it probably wouldn't be easy either.

"The first thing that we're going to do is some of the basic drills that you all probably used the most when first learning to beyblade."

Everyone looked startled at that statement. Basic drills? What were they, five?

"Why do have to do that for? Cant we just start scrimmaging?" asked Tyson.

"Because, you guys haven't beybladed in over a week. And beyblading is just like any other sport. You have to keep at it everyday, otherwise you'll get slow. Like in basketball. If you were to skip seven of your basketball practices, once you showed up for one, you'd probably be less swift on your feet, you're ball handling would defiantly suffer, and you're shots would be off base. Same basic thing with beyblading. Now, as I was saying, basic drills."

They all just shrugged and began practicing their turns and basic attack and defense strategies. After all, she was the captain. As it turned out, Stephania was right. Tyson's 180's (that's 180 degree turns, for those who don't know) kept catching edges and causing the blade to spin onto its side. Rei's jumps weren't nearly as high as they used to be, weakening his defense strategies. Max's blade wouldn't withstand the crashes that they once had been able too, causing his offense to suffer.

Stephania just smiled through the whole thing. Then the real fun began.

(30 minutes later)

A metallic crack sounded throughout the park as Tyson's blade went flying into the fence. Stephania and he had been having a beybattle, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that she could probably whip his ass at beyblading no matter how fit he was. In a flash of purple light, Stephania's phoenix returned to its blade then flew back into her hand. Tyson took the walk of shame over to his beyblade, picked it up, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"So, I guess that makes 3 for me and zippo for the rest of you." Tyson just scowled at her. Max and Rei were lying down in the grass beside them, groaning about the butt kicking they had received not ten minutes earlier. Kenny was recording all the beybattles on his laptop for future reference.

"Ok everyone, six laps around the park, then you're home free."

Max and Rei both shot up off the ground. "WHAT!"

"You heard me, now move it." They all let out a large groan, then began running. Stephania turned to Kenny.

"Come on, let's go catch the bus before it leaves."

Kenny started. "You mean leave them here?"

Stephania nodded. "They'll get a ride back from practices when they've earned it, now let's go."

Kenny obliged, following Stephania just in case she made him do laps as well. The boys finished their laps just in time to see the bus speed off down the street. There they all stood, sweaty and dirty, mouths hanging open so far that they nearly touched the ground. All of a sudden, Tyson became rather angry. He let out a growl and began running down the street toward the bus.

"Dammit Stephania!" he yelled. "Get your ass back here!" But the bus kept going until it was too far away for him to see. He then resorted to kicking and punching thin air, his mouth sprouting obscenities every which way.

Max and Rei sprinted up too Tyson, who was standing in the middle off the road looking off down the street, no longer throwing a violent fit.

"She is so much worse than Kai!" he yelled. "Who does she think she is!"

Rei cleared his throat. "Well, she probably thinks that she's our captain, but that's because she is. She can do anything she wants Tyson."

"No she can't! When she's training us, sure. But that was uncalled for!"

"Tyson, she was training us," Max pointed out.

Tyson sweat dropped, then sighed.

"Well…she…I…argh!" he stuttered. "I don't care! Max! Give me your cell phone!"

Max did as he was told, not wanting to fuel Tyson's anger farther. Tyson dialed the number for the taxi company, asking for a cab. Once he was finished, he hung up and threw the phone back to Max, who caught it and shoved it in his pocket.

"And another thing. Kenny went right along with her! I am so gonna fry his ass when we get back to the hotel!"

Max and Rei just sighed, not knowing what else to do. Neither of them mentioned that tomorrow was just going to be harder, and inevitably more frustrating than today.

Finally the taxi came, and the remaining members of the team, all of them hot, sweaty, and quite flustered, clambered into the small cab, closed the door, and sped off towards the hotel.

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Things were defiantly heating up back at the hotel. Max and Rei had decided to head straight to their three-bed room, thinking it best for both of their physical well beings to stay as far away from Tyson as possible. They lay there on there beds, staring at the ceiling and listening to the argument that had brewed itself up just across the hall in Stephania and Suki's room. They could both hear Tyson and Stephania's voices shouting back and forth to each other. Tyson was using some rather rude language that no gentleman should ever direct at a lady, but that was ok, since Stephania was throwing just as vulgar comments right back at him. They could also hear people opening their doors down the hall and telling the two to take the fight somewhere else, which was usually followed by either Tyson or Stephania telling them to stuff their complaints where the sun don't shine, but in a much less clean way (you all know what I mean ; )).

"You know, this all kinda reminds me of when Kai and Tyson used to fight after practice sessions at the dojo," said Rei.

Max nodded, still staring at the ceiling. "Like brother like sister I suppose."

Rei rolled over too his side, looking at Max. "Do you think that we should intervene?"

Max gave him a bemused look. "Hell no. I think we should take a nap."

Rei shrugged. "Works for me."

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Kai lay in the hospital bead, staring blankly into nothingness. What else was there to do in that dump they called a hospital anyway? Not much, that was for sure. Being alone gave Kai a lot of time to think about the last few days. He was still overcoming the shock of seeing Stephania alive. Sure, Voltaire had told him that she was in fact alive, but he hadn't read too much into it. He had learned a long time ago never to take anything that his grandfather said seriously. But he had been telling the truth, for once.

Kai had to hand it to her, his sister was pretty sneaky. Probably even better than him. Scratch that, a lot better than him. At age seven she had managed to single handedly fool the entire BioVolt Corporation into thinking she was dead. Then, she had been able to hide herself from them for 10 years. That took skill, and a lot of it.

Another thing that puzzled him was Rei's awkward recovery. He knew that Rei hadn't recovered naturally, and suspected a plot behind the whole thing. He would have to be careful from now on, especially if his grandfather was behind all of this. It wouldn't surprise him if it was.

His grandfather was worrying him as well. He had just…disappeared. There was no sign of him anywhere, as far as he had been told. Kai knew that he wasn't dead. But then, where was he?

Kai closed his eyes and sighed. So many questions, so few answers. It was going to be a long three weeks.

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Stephania sat upon the bed in her hotel room, brow knotted in frustration. Tyson had finally settled down and gone back into his room, leaving her with a hoarse throat and a high temper. Suki had gone to look for Tala and Bryan, seeing as they had been gone for so long.

Tyson…what a complete and total dumbass! Everything that she had ever heard about him had been true. Ok, so maybe today's practice had been a little harsh, but they had asked her to be captain, so that was what she was going to be. Those three needed some serious discipline. She understood that they had had a lot on their minds for the past week, but the unwillingness to train and participate had startled her. There was no doubt in her mind that if Kai hadn't been there to make them practice, they never would have won the world tournament. They probably wouldn't have even made it through the first round. Well she could play their game. Come tomorrow, practices were going to be very different.

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Stephania, Tyson, Rei, Max, and Kenny met the next day in the same park that they had trained in previously. All the boys had grim looks on there faces, Tyson especially. His arms were folded over his chest and a scowl was planted on his face.

Stephania walked up to the four boys. "Ok, is everyone ready?"

They all nodded, except Tyson, who looked away.

Stephania nodded as well. "Good." Then, she walked past them and sat right down on the grass to the left of them. Their eyes followed her, mouths hanging open. Tyson, not thinking at all about what this might mean, stormed right up to her.

She sat on the ground with her eyes closed, leaning back on her hands, the breeze gently blowing her hair around her face.

"What the hell are you doing!" yelled Tyson, standing over her.

Stephania opened one eye. "I don't really feel like training today. You guys go ahead."

Tyson looked appalled. "But you're the captain! You're apart of this team to, which means that you have to train, just like us!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Both of Stephania's eyes snapped open, and she abruptly stood up. "And what does that make you Tyson! Huh!"

"What are you talking about!"

"You think that just because you're world champion that you don't have to do a thing for this team! Well, guess what! You're not world champion! Your team is, not you! A team works together! If one person goes down, everyone goes down. If one person wins, they all win. There's no special treatment and no special privileges. So if you think that you're too good to train for this tournament, then so am I!" She sat back down on the grass, legs crossed, arms folded.

Tyson just stood with his mouth hanging open. Behind him, so did the others. Because the reality of the situation was…she was right. She was absolutely right. She had just said what Kai had been trying to teach them all through the world championships, and it was just now sinking in.

Tyson closed his mouth and took a seat beside Stephania, who was staring angrily at the ground. It was amazing how much her and her brother looked alike when she was mad.

"Listen, I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean what I said yesterday, and I should have respected you better. You were right. I acted like a jerk at practice, and I did think that I was too good for the exercises you laid out for us. But you were right the whole time."

Stephania's features lost some of their anger. She looked up at him, then said softly, "You mean it?"

Tyson gave her a smile. "Yeah."

Behind them, Rei, Max, and Kenny's mouths just dropped farther down. Tyson, apologizing? Admitting that someone else was right? Wow. One off the planets must have been in irregular orbit or something for this to happen.

The two stood up and Stephania spoke.

"Alright boys," she said, cracking her knuckles. "We're gonna have some real fun now."

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Tyson, Rei, and Max returned to the hotel with stiff limbs and aching backs. Groans could be heard from the other guests even as they ascended up the elevator. They weren't too thrilled with being drilled into the ground (quite literally) by a girl, but they had promised Stephania that they would work hard and listen to what she told them, so they went along with the insane training schedule. They were getting better though, at a rapidly increasing rate too, which was good, considering how little time they had to prepare.

The three boys dragged themselves into there room and flopped down on the beds. Several groans and complaints later, they were fast asleep.

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Suki stood inside a calling booth, holding the black phone tight against her ear and biting her nails at the same time. Tala picked up on the third ring.

"What do you want Suki?" he said tiredly.

"Don't give me that tone were you talk to me like I'm just an annoying little kid that wont stop following you! You're the one that dragged me here! Now, where the hell are you!"

Suki could her the sound of static emit through the phone as Tala sighed. "I'm at Balkov Abbey."

"What! Why!"

"Because Ian and Spencer called me and told me to come. They've apparently caught wind of something important, and wanted to tell me about it somewhere where we couldn't be heard."

"What was it?"

Tala paused for a moment. "Is this a secure line?"

"Of course not, Tala, it's a bloody payphone for Lord's sake!"

Suki could just imagine him rolling his eyes. "Fine, but promise not to tell anyone unless you absolutely have to."

"Alright." Tala told her what he knew, and with each sentence, Suki's eyes grew wider.

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That's all for know, folks.


	18. The Tournament Begins

Hello all! Alright everyone, it's story time! Today's story: Why Rei hasn't updated in so long. So, here's what's going on. A couple weeks after I wrote the last chapter, I had exams, which took killer studying. That ate up about two weeks. Then after that, I was just plain lazy. Well, one day in the car I got that familiar buzzing in my fingers that let me know that I NEEDED to write SOMETHING. So, I decided to write this chapter this weekend, but couldn't cause my brother and my best friend stupidly decided to be born on the same day, so I had their parties to deal with the whole weekend. Not that I'm complaining about my friend's party, but I had to leave her party early to get to my brother's party. I had myself locked in my room for 3 days to escape the madness, only coming down for cake and ice-cream. And that is my excuse of the update. I am very good at making excuses you know.

As I've already rambled about, it was my friend's birthday weekend so I'd like to sing her this song: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR KYLIE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy birthday to the Kai of my little cliché, Kylie. She is the Kai of our group not only because her nickname is Ky, which is pronounced the same, but also because we have come to find that her sarcasm and some of her personality traits are quite similar to those of Kai. Of course she acts like Rei too, but their names don't sound alike. Anyway, enough about comparing my friends with characters of a TV show, on with the chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it

**Quote of the update: **Wit is the lowest form of humor—Alexander Pope

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_Three Weeks Later…_

Stephania paced back and forth in the locker room of the stadium, clad in jeans and an Aeropostale hoodie, fidgeting with her hands. Anxiety tore through her insides, leaving her weak in the knees. Tyson, Rei, Max, Kenny, and Suki sat on one of the benches, following her nervous pacing with their eyes. She had every right to be nervous. This was, after all, her first tournament. Not only that, she was also the captain of a world-class team. The pressure was defiantly on. Stephania was an extremely gifted beyblader, but tournaments like this can make anyone nervous, especially a first-timer in beyblade competition.

Finally, the Bladebreakers heard their name over the intercom, telling them to report to the main floor of the stadium. They all stood up (except Stephania) and headed out of the locker room. Suki turned to face them before taking her seat in the stands.

"Good luck to all of you. And Steph?"

Stephania looked at her with worry-filled eyes.

"You'll do fine. I promise."

Stephania just nodded. Suki offered her a gentle smile, then headed for the stands, taking a seat next to Judy, Bruce, and Mr. Dickinson.

"Alright Steph," said Tyson enthusiastically, putting a hand on Stephania's shoulder, "let's go kick some ass."

For the first time that day, Stephania smiled. She had worked so hard to prepare this team, and she wasn't going to let nerves ruin it.

She let out a drawn out, sarcastic sigh. "Alright, alright. Let's go." She turned to walk ahead of the rest of them, making a big scene strutting with her nose in the air, playing the role of conceited captain just for kicks.

Rei walked over to Tyson. "She's not at all full of herself, is she?"

"Nah, she's just being stupid." Tyson began running after Stephania calling, "Oi, captain, wait up!"

Max followed after with Kenny in tow, while Rei lagged behind. "Yep, she's gonna fit right in with us. She's gonna fit right in," he muttered, before breaking out in a sprint to catch up with his teammates.

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Kai stood outside of the Granger dojo, practicing launching with his left hand instead of his right, having been let out of the hospital the day before. He still wore the cast from three weeks ago, which was now covered in signatures as everyone had insisted on writing all over it. Kai didn't agree, nor did he protest. He honestly didn't care; he just wanted the stupid thing off his arm.

In three weeks, he was nearly fully healed, with the exception of his arm. For some reason, the damage hadn't improved very much at all from the time it was broken. Kai couldn't even remember what had happened to it, except that he had woken up with it twisted and bruised. He suspected Voltaire had done something to it to make it that way. It wouldn't have surprised him if he did.

Kai put Dranzer in its launcher, and launched it again. He was getting more used to his left arm now, and his beyblade had become much steadier when he launched it then when he had first tried. It still didn't get as much speed and power as it had when he had used his right arm, but it was pretty close.

He remembered the first time he had tried to launch it with his left arm. It had been in the hospital about a week in a half ago. He had barely been able to stand, but he knew he needed the practice. His beyblade had ricocheted off the walls and had nearly taken his head off. Luckily, he didn't break anything in the room, including himself. He had taken it slower after that, working his way up to where he was now.

Kai picked up Dranzer from where it was spinning and sat down on the porch. The adults had all gone to the tournament with the others, who all had offered him to come. He had denied the request, making up the excuse that he wasn't feeling well. They had believed him, seeing as he had just gotten out of the hospital, and had let him stay by himself. Which was just the way Kai liked it. He hadn't wanted to see someone else leading his team into victory, like he had done so many times before. True, he had agreed to let Stephania train them for him, but he hadn't been in a very good position to disagree when she had asked him. He still didn't trust her fully. For all he new she could be some kind of spy for Voltaire. With the different colors of hair dye and contacts these days, she could easily be in disguise. Then he thought about other things that were similar about them and found it hard to doubt her. For instance, the shape of her face and her eyes were almost exactly like his. Her nose was a little longer, that was true, but there were other things that were the same. Her voice, though higher in pitch, was similar to his. Plus, they had a weird connection, something that just made him feel like he had known her the entire time she had been away.

Kai sighed and closed his eyes. Things were getting more and more confusing lately. He thought back to the day before, right after they all had arrived at the dojo. As soon as his feet had touched the floor, she had grabbed him by the arm, telling him that she wanted to speak alone. He had agreed, and had allowed her to drag him away with her.

**Flashback **

_Stephania pulled Kai outside, saying she desperately needed to talk to him about something. Once they had got to the garden outside of the dojo, she released his arm and began pacing, fiddling with her long slate hair. She was like that for a while, before Kai decided to break the silence. _

"_Well?" _

_Stephania stopped pacing and looked at him. She took a deep breath. _

"_Ok, first things first. I'm gonna ask you to refrain from English for our conversation, cause I'd rather not have anyone listen in on us," she informed him in Russian. _

_Kai nodded. _

"_About a month ago, when I first came here, something really weird happened." _

_She paused for a moment. Kai's silence told her to continue. _

"_I sorta…spaced out…or something, it was really weird. It was like, and I know this sounds strange, I was connected to you or something, like I had entered your mind." _

_Kai's expression remained impassive, save for the slight widening of his eyes. _

"_I could see what you saw, even feel what you felt. It was the most bizarre thing I've probably ever experienced. Then I remembered how Voltaire always used to talk about the strange powers that the Hiwatari family possessed. You know, fast healing, incredible physical and mental abilities, stuff like that." _

_Kai nodded. _

"_I mean, I had always thought all of it to be some kind of joke, like he was just raving or something. But…it all fits together so perfectly! Think about it. Hasn't it always been strange that we healed faster than Tala and the others at the Abbey, or that we were beyblading at the age of, what, 3? Or that weird thing that happened to me! It all fits! And I think I know what's causing it." _

"_Our phoenixes," Kai stated casually. _

_Stephania gave him a weird look. "Can you read minds? Cause if you can you've gotta tell me." _

"_No, I can't. I was thinking the exact same thing a while back. Our bitbeasts have been in the family for centuries. It's the only explanation really available." _

"_What do we do?" _

_Kai shrugged. "There's nothing we can do, except use our abilities to our advantage. Have you told the others about what happened with you?" _

_Stephania nodded. "Yeah, I told them some." _

"_Don't tell them any more. It's better if we keep this a secret. It could give us the upper hand if Voltaire decides to come around anytime soon. He can't know everything about us. Okay?" _

"_Okay." _

**End Flashback **

There was also the matter of Rei's speed healing. From what everyone had told him, they had found Rei about a half an hour after he had been shot. That was defiantly sufficient time for anyone to bleed to death. Then, after they had taken him to the hospital, he had made a near full recovery in under a week. Kai knew something was going on, he just didn't know what. He would have to keep a good eye on Rei in the future, just in case something happens.

Kai leaned back on the outside wall of the dojo, eyes still closed. Even if he was healing at an incredible rate, things that he used to be able to do for hours at a time could still wear him down. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

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Stephania stood in the middle of the stadium, facing the captain of the opposing team. He was a gangly looking thing, skinny as a pole, but with a smirk as big as his face. The crowds roared behind her, screaming out encouragement to their favorite teams. It was, of course, customary that the captains shake hands before the matches began, just to show respect. Stephania sized the boy up. She probably wasn't going to get much respect out of him. As if confirming her thoughts, the boy decided to get smart.

"Where's Hiwatari, girl? I thought he was the captain of this trashy team."

Stephania gritted her teeth for a moment to stop her from cussing the boy out. "She's right here, smartass. And what are you, the towel boy?"

The smirk that he had been so proudly wearing quickly dropped into a frown. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again, not being able to find the words.

'_He looks like a damn fish," _she thought.

Stephania put on her most innocent face, then began to look around her, as if trying to find something. Then she put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Oh no! Where's your smartass remarks? Did you lose them?"

The boy didn't say anything, instead holding out his hand and looking at his feet. Stephania shook it, but only because she was being forced to. The boy pulled away quickly and left the stadium floor.

Stephania glared at his back for a minute. "That's right, walk away, asshole. Walk away before I put that cheap launcher of yours where you'll never be able to reach it," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for her to hear. Then she turned and began walking off towards her team.

"What's wrong?" asked Max as she sat down.

Stephania continued looking forward, straight at the opposing team. "Nothing."

"Then why are you trying to bore a hole in that team over there with your eyes?" Tyson pointed across the stadium.

Stephania tore her eyes off of the beybladers and sat up a little straighter. "Tyson, you're on deck, okay? Get ready."

Tyson just rolled his eyes. "Can there be just one time in my life that a captain doesn't ignore me when I talk? Just once?"

Stephania smiled slightly. "We only ignore you when you have nothing good to say."

"Gee, thanks. At least I know that half of the things I say get some recognition."

Stephania stood up, walked over to Tyson, and patted him on the shoulder. "Actually, about 1/36 of what you say gets recognition, especially in the beyblading stadium. You really need to find some more interesting things to say. Now, you're on deck."

Stephania began walking up toward the stands to see Suki. "Is everyone in your family like this?" Tyson called after her.

Stephania turned around. "Well, not everyone. Kai doesn't think anything you have to say is interesting." Then she gave him a smirk and turned around.

Tyson just threw his hands in the air, knowing it was pointless to argue any further. A few feet away from him, Max, Rei, and Kenny were quietly laughing.

"What!"

"Hey Rei, did Tyson just get dised by a girl…again?"

"Yeah Max, I think he did."

Tyson walked over and punched them both on the shoulders. "Girl or boy really doesn't matter. Every Hiwatari obviously has a bottomless hole of insults just waiting for me."

Rei thought for a moment. "Can't argue with you there."

Tyson was about to reply when they called his name to report to the beyblading dish.

"Wish me luck."

Max looked over at the other team. "I really don't think you'll need luck, dude."

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Tyson stood face to face with his opponent on the other side of the dish. A boy, maybe thirteen or so, about his height. They both held there launchers out, waiting for the countdown.

"**3, 2, 1, let it rip!" **

Tyson yanked at the ripcord with all his might, sending Dragoon flying into the dish. The boy did the same, but not with nearly the same amount of force. His green beyblade circled the dish along with Tyson's. Tyson immediately took the offensive, slamming into the green blade, which sent it flying backwards. It hit the edge of the dish before continuing to wind its way toward Dragoon. Tyson evaded the blade, again slamming into it. In a flash of green it flew out of the dish and into its alarmed owner's hand. Dragoon spun for a moment before also returning to its master.

"**And the winner is, Tyson of the Bladebreakers!" **

The fans went wild. Standing up and screaming themselves hoarse. Tyson just smirked and waved to the crowd, making a big show for the cameras. Stephania, who had returned from the stands right before the match, rolled her eyes and walked over to Tyson, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him over to the bench were the team sat.

"What was that for?"

Stephania sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Show a little dignity, will you, and stop acting like an idiot. You're so conceited sometimes."

Tyson was about to protest, but then remembered what Stephania had said a few weeks ago, when they were training in the park.

"_You think that just because your world champion that you don't have to do a thing for this team! Well guess what! You're not world champion! Your team is, not you! A team works together! If one person goes down, everyone goes down. If one person wins, they all win. There's no special treatment and no special privileges. So if you think you're too good to train for this tournament, then so am I!" _

Tyson looked down at his shoes. "Sorry…"

Stephania's features softened. "Just act like there are more members on this team than just you from now on, and forget it."

Tyson just nodded.

"Okay!" said Max, trying to lighten the mood. "Who's up next?"

"Rei is," Stephania informed them. Then she turned to Rei. "Good luck."

Rei nodded, then walked out to meet his opponent. She was tall and skinny, a little over Rei's height and most likely on her school's varsity basketball team. Her blond hair was pulled back and her brown eyes sparkled. Rei pulled out his launcher and placed Driger firmly into it. The girl did the same with her beyblade.

"**3, 2, 1, let it rip!" **

The two opponents simultaneously pulled back their ripcords, causing both blades to collide with a metallic crack. The two blades flew backwards, hitting the dish's walls just before nearly flying out of it. Rei took the defensive, drawing his opponent to him. The girl sent her beyblade at him again and again, Driger always managing to avoid her blade. After a while, the beyblade's spinning began to slow significantly, making it wobble on its axis. Rei smiled. This was just what he wanted to happen; wear the opponent's blade down until it loses enough power for the final blow. Rei saw the opportunity and took it. Out of nowhere Driger closed in on the defenseless beyblade, sending it back into its owner's hand so fast that the girl flew backwards.

As soon as Rei had Driger, he went over to the girl's side, helping her up.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

She laughed. "I'm fine. That was a good match. You did very well."

Rei nodded. "You too." The girl gave him a smile then went back to her team, Rei doing the same. Stephania stood up to great him.

"Nice job, Rei. And you were polite to the other team, unlike some people I know." Everyone turned their gazes to Tyson.

"Hey, I thought you said we were forgetting about that!"

"I'm sure you've done it before I came around, Tyson."

Tyson didn't argue. How can you argue with someone whose always right?

"Ok, Max, you're up," said Stephania.

"Alright!" exclaimed Max excitedly. Then he walked up to meet his opponent.

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Ok, weird place to stop, but I didn't want you guys to listen to beyblade battles the whole chapter through. Plus, I was getting tired of writing them. Alrighty, I'll see y'all later. TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	19. Sickness

Hello again everyone! Did you miss me? Of course you did! Everyone always misses me when I'm gone. Anywho, as usual, I do have an excuse for not updating. Here it is: I was just being plain lazy. Well, there you go! There's my excuse. Hmmm…that's about it. On with the story? (after some rather important messages, of course, that are a little farther down)

**Disclaimer: **DON'T OWN NOTHIN'!

**Quote of the Update: Jack: **(walking into the room with new glasses on) Hey guys, do you like my new glasses? **Will: **Guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses. **Jack: **Well girls don't make passes at guys with fat asses.—**Will and Grace (if you haven't watched that show, you're a loser) **

**Important Message! If you guys want me to update sooner than usual, you all have to listen to the Numa Numa song by Ozone! Understand! Every single one of you must listen to the Numa Numa song! Why? Because it rocks!**

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The crowd behind Max cheered as Draciel smashed repeatedly into his opponent's beyblade. Metallic clangs echoed through the stadium, along with shouts of encouragement from his teammates. Finally, the opposing beyblade had had enough and flew out of the dish and back into its owner's hand. Max shook his opponent's hand with a smile, then walked back to his team.

"Great battle, Max!" said Tyson, patting him on the back.

"Thanks, Tyson." Max turned his head towards Stephania. "You're up next. Are you nervous?"

Stephania gave him a confused look. "Me? Nervous? Nah, of course not. Besides, you all beat your opponents, and everyone knows that I'm three times better than you guys."

Tyson sighed. "Could you humor us for one second and just be a little modest?" 

Stephania pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmmm…Nope."

Tyson sat down and rolled his eyes. "Of course not. What was I thinking, asking you to be modest?"

Stephania shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose it's pretty close to what people are thinking when they ask you to use a fork when you eat."

"Ouch. A Hiwatari burn," commented Rei.

"How many does that make?" asked Max.

"I don't know. It has to be over a thousand with just Tyson alone."

"Ha, ha. You're all hilarious, but can we please go back to focusing on beyblading?" pleaded Tyson.

Stephania sighed. "Alright. We'll stop embarrassing you long enough for me to go beyblade, then we can go back to the dojo and embarrass you there, where you're out of the public eye. How's that sound?"

"Just go beyblade, will you?"

Stephania just grinned and nodded, then turned and walked over to the dish. Already standing on the other side of the dish was the opposing team's captain. He didn't look very cocky anymore, and his eyes were trained on the floor. Stephania crouched down so that she could see his face.

"Hey, are you gonna blade with your head down or what?"

The boy gave her a startled look, then slowly shook his head.

"Then let's go already. You and I have something to finish."

Stephania pulled her launcher out of her back pocket and placed her gleaming purple blade in it. The beyblade latched on with a _'click'. _The other captain mirrored her movements, then took his position over the dish. Stephania's garnet eyes met his emerald ones, locking onto one another.

"**3, 2, 1, let it rip!" **

A zipper-like sound echoed through the stadium as the two captains yanked their rip cords back. Both blades collided immediately, sending them flying into the walls of the dish. Stephania recovered quickly and advanced on the opposing blade. Metal clashed with metal. The captain's green blade hit the wall again, landing shakily. Stephania showed no mercy. She slammed her purple blade into his green one repeatedly until the blade had finally had enough. Stephania backed off when the green blade began to wobble dangerously. In a matter of seconds the blade was on its side at the bottom of the dish, and all the Bladebreakers fans were on their feet cheering.

Stephania smiled as she savored her victory. She watched as the captain walked over to the dish and picked up his blade out of the dish. Stephania walked over to him and held out her hands.

"No hard feelings. What do you say?"

He stared at her outstretched hand for a moment, then nodded and shook it. After their hands parted, Stephania walked back over to her team and sat down with them. They all gave her a congratulations.

"Well, the preliminaries are over. You guys wanna go check out the brackets to see who we're fighting next?" She asked.

They all nodded. They were curious to see who else was competing. They walked out into the hallway and found the screen that displayed the updated bracket. Suki, Bruce, Judy, and Mr. D were already there. Suki ran up to them.

"Great job you guys. Way to show them whose boss."

"Thanks Suki. Who are we blading against next?" asked Rei.

"Uh…the Majestics, I think."

"The Majestics!" yelled everyone, save Stephania. Suki looked at Stephania, who just shrugged.

"Do you guys, like, know them or something?" questioned Suki.

"Yeah," answered Tyson. "We met them in the last tournament. They're friends of ours. Robert, Oliver, Johnny, and Enrique. Not a bad group of bladers."

"I see," said Suki and Stephania together.

"Let me have a look at the bracket," demanded Tyson. They all obliged and stepped out of the way so Tyson could see the screen. He trailed his finger along the brackets, sending rainbow distortions across the screen.

"The Demolition Boyz!" he suddenly shouted. At those three words the whole team, as well as the adults, crowded around the screen.

"Lousy bunch of traitors! I thought they had changed!"

"Calm down Tyson," said Rei softly. "They could have been forced to compete. Besides, what harm can it do to battle them in a tournament?"

"Because Rei! If they are competing, then that means that they've slunk back to BioVolt. I mean, we already knew that they had gone back to the Abbey, but this proves that they've joined back up with Voltaire! And after everything they did to Kai too!"

"Tyson, Rei has a point. They could have been forced to blade. We don't know for sure," Max defended.

Tyson just stared at them all, then leaned back against the wall in silent fury. Bruce approached his over-reactive son.

"Tyson, let's just go back to the dojo and have a cool off. Then we can work out the situation with the Demolition Boyz, ok?"

Tyson leaned with his arms crossed and his head down. He thought about his dad's words for a moment, then nodded his head.

"Fine, we'll go back to the dojo. But if I find out that Tala has turned on us again, I'll kick his a—" Tyson faltered a bit when his dad gave him a stern look, "—butt."

His dad grinned. "Alright, let's head back then."

"I'll be at the BBA Headquarters if anyone needs me," Mr. Dickinson informed them. "Take care everyone."

"Bye!" they all yelled as they walked farther and farther down the hall, and closer and closer to the exit.

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Tyson, Max, Rei, Kenny, Bruce, and Judy all entered the dojo later that afternoon. Stephania and Suki had gone out for a while, saying that they needed some 'girl time', or something of the sort. Everyone slipped off their shoes while entering, then spread out to different parts of the house. Then Tyson got a quizzical look on his face.

"Hey guys, where's Kai?"

Everyone stopped and turned to face him. Rei concentrated on listening for any noises, then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Kai!"

No answer.

"That's odd. Kai, are you there!" Rei shouted again.

Again, no answer.

The others began calling Kai's name as well. After a while they began to get worried.

"Where could he possibly be?" Tyson asked to no one in particular as he searched through the rooms in the dojo.

"Hey guys!" yelled Tyson's dad from the back porch. Everyone ran towards the back door to see if Bruce had found anything. Before they got there he opened the door, carrying the unconscious form of Kai in his arms.

"Kai!" cried Tyson. "Dad, is he ok!"

Tyson's dad laughed softly. "He's fine, Tyson. He's just sleeping, that's all." Bruce carried Kai into the living room and set him down on the couch.

"What was he doing outside anyway?" asked Max.

"Well," Bruce answered thoughtfully. "He had his launcher with him, so it seems to me like he was training."

"Training! In his condition! I swear, he's going to get himself hurt!"

"Calm down Tyson, you're beginning to sound like my mom," teased Max.

"Max is right. Just relax, you're not his mother, thank God," Rei commented.

Tyson crossed his arms over a chest. "Can't a guy look out for his friend without being called a girl!"

Everyone ignored the comment, however, and headed into the kitchen.

"Come on guys, don't ignore me like that. Guys? Guys, come on!" he pouted, following them into the kitchen.

Once they had all gathered together, each person took a seat at the table. "Alright, tournament talk time," said Judy. "We need to straighten a few things out."

Everyone nodded. "Okay," she continued. "I'll be gone in a couple of days, just so everyone knows. The All-Stars are coming down, so I'm going to stay in a hotel with them."

"The All-Stars!" interrupted Max. "Awesome! Can I come see you guys while you're here!"

"Of course, Max. We're competing in the tournament after all. Now hush." Max obliged and closed his mouth.

"Anyways, we know the All-Stars, The Majestics, and The Demolition Boyz are all competing in the tournament. Rei?"

Rei looked over at Judy. "Do you know if the White Tigers will be competing?"

Rei shook his head. "No, I haven't heard from them."

Judy nodded. "Alright then, we still need to keep an eye out for any new teams that might pose a threat. You never know what could happen."

Everyone nodded. Just then Kenny ran into the room in a hysterical fit. It was then that they realized that he had not joined them at the table.

"Kenny, where were you?" asked Tyson.

Kenny shook his head furiously. "It doesn't matter right now, Tyson! Kai's sick, you guys!"

Everyone stood up abruptly. Some chairs even fell over and onto the hardwood floor.

"What are you talking about Kenny? He was just fine a second ago," Tyson pointed out.

"I know that! But he looks really bad right now!"

"Calm down Kenny, and explain what happened," said Judy.

"I was just walking by the living room to go and get Dizzi when I noticed it. One second he was fine, and the next he looked really sick!"

Before Kenny even finished his sentence, Tyson, Max, Rei, and Bruce where heading toward the living room. Kenny and Judy hurried to catch up with worried features plastered across their faces.

They all rushed into the living room to see that Kai did indeed look very ill. He was sweating and shaking, and his breathing was shallow and irregular. His normally pale face was now flushed.

Judy knelt by the couch, her maternal instincts kicking in, and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. After a few seconds she pulled her hand away and let out a worried sigh.

"He has a high fever," she informed them sadly. "He needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

Nobody wasted time on nods of understandment. Instead, Bruce scooped Kai up in his strong arms and carried him outside to the rented BBA van, the others in tow. Once in the van Bruce laid Kai on the back row seat of the van, asking Tyson, Rei, and Max to keep and eye on him.

"Dad?" Tyson asked nervously.

Bruce turned to face him.

"Is Kai going to be ok?"

Bruce stared at the ground for a moment, then looked back up at Tyson's worried face.

"I…I don't know, Tyson."

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Immediately upon arriving at Yamahoshi Hospital, Kai was rushed into the emergency room. His condition had become even more critical on the way to the hospital. In the beginning he had thrashed around so much that they had had to hold him down. But as the car ride progressed, he had stopped moving altogether, like his body was completely exhausted. His breaths had become even shallower, and his fever had spiked even higher.

Now, the Bladebreakers and the two adults were sitting in the waiting room, (yet again…) waiting for the news about Kai's condition. They had tried contacting Stephania and Suki, but, unfortunately, both of their phones were turned off. After several minutes of flipping through two year old magazines and fiddling idly with their hands, the group heard a doctor enter the waiting room.

Bruce and Judy stood up, ready to face the doctors news. The doctor himself looked exhausted, his hair disheveled and his tie loose around his tanned neck.

"How is he?" Bruce asked, the doctor knowing well who he was referring to.

Before he answered, he asked, "Are you his parents?"

Judy and Bruce looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then brushed the comment aside.

"No, just good friends. We're not exactly sure where his parents are," answered Judy.

The doctor sighed. "Alright then. You informed us that Kai had been showing no signs of illness prior to your arrival?"

Bruce nodded. "No, he was fine a couple of hours ago, about 30 minutes before we brought him in."

The doctor nodded. "Well, after putting him through surgery and running some tests, it appears that Kai is suffering from some highly dangerous chemicals that, according to the Russian hospital he was previously staying at, had been put into his body nearly two months ago. I understand that he was treated for this in Russia?"

Judy and Bruce nodded.

"It appears that, despite the efforts made by the other hospital, the chemicals have managed to resurface and have reacted violently with his body. According to the tests we ran, the amount of harmful substances found in his body would have killed an entire team of professional football players, just to give you some perspective."

Everyone in the room exchanged shocked glances.

"But doctor," asked Judy, "how is that possible?"

The doctor rubbed his temples. "It's defiantly a mystery, even to the hospitals most highly trained physicians. However, let's move on. We've done our best to flush the chemicals from Kai's body, but our efforts have been unsuccessful so far. We'll defiantly have to have him overnight to see if we can rid him of the chemicals. It might even take longer that that. It all depends."

"What I don't understand, doctor, is why this is happening now. What caused the chemicals to react?" asked Bruce.

"We believe that part of it is due to an overstressing of his body."

"From what?" Tyson chimed in.

The doctor looked at him. "We're not sure. Has he done anything lately that has caused him to overexert himself?"

They thought about it for a moment.

"Hey, didn't Kai look like he was training when we came home today?" asked Rei.

Everyone perked up. "That's right," recalled Judy. "And if I know Kai, he's been training long before today, possibly since we were in Russia."

Rei nodded. "He probably did it to build up strength in his left arm, since he can't use his right to beyblade."

Tyson suddenly stood up. "I told you guys, didn't I! I told you he was going to get himself hurt!"

"Tyson, calm down," said Max. "Your outbursts aren't helping anything."

Tyson fumed for a moment, then sat back with a pout on his face.

"Anyway," continued the doctor, "we have moved Kai into the ICU, as his condition is highly critical. Usually we only allow family members to visit our ICU patients, but since Kai's family is not present, we will allow you to visit him one at a time."

They all nodded, having been through this procedure before.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients that need my attention. But I do wish the best for your friend."

"Thank you doctor, we appreciate that," thanked Judy.

The doctor nodded and walked out of the room. They all watched him go, silence befalling them all until Bruce said:

"Does anyone want to visit today, or is everyone to tired?"

No one answered for a moment, too lost in their thoughts.

"I'll go," Rei spoke up. All eyes turned to him.

"Are you sure Rei?" asked Kenny.

"Yeah, aren't you to tired?" questioned Max.

Rei held his hands up in defense. "You guys, I want to go. Kai's my friend, and I'm never too tired for my friends."

"We know Rei, but…" Kenny trailed off.

"But what?"

"Are you sure you'll be ok Rei?" Judy interrupted.

"Yes! I'm fine with it, so stop treating me like a child!" Rei yelled. That surprised everyone. It also shut everyone up. All they could seem to do was stare at him. Rei was the last person you'd expect to get cross with someone, let alone everyone in the room. Well, he couldn't help it! They had been treating him like he was made of glass ever since he had gotten out of the hospital, like there was something wrong with him because he had healed so fast. Maybe there was something wrong, he didn't care! They didn't have to treat him like a baby all the time!

Rei stood there, silently fuming, then stomped out of the room when he could no longer stand them staring at him. He walked hurriedly down the busy white halls to the receptionist's desk to get the number for Kai's room, then headed for the elevator.

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Rei stood outside of Kai's room with his fist curled tightly around the door handle. No matter how many times he had visited people that he cared about in the hospital, he was still never prepared to do it again. He could have walked into that hospital room a hundred times and would have still needed time to brace himself before hand. And that's what he was doing now, bracing himself. Cause you never know what you'll find in a hospital room, especially one in the ICU.

Rei took a deep breath, then entered the room. What he saw shocked him. He had expected to see Kai hooked up to tons of machines like when he was in Russia, but instead, he was barely hooked up to anything. He had a drip in each arm, one of them trying to counteract the chemicals, a respiratory machine, and a heart monitor.

At first Rei saw this as a good thing, but then something occurred to him. Maybe Kai wasn't hooked up to lots of machines because there was little the hospital could do for him. Which was bad.

Rei walked over to the bedside and examined his friend. Kai had natural pale skin, but it seemed to be a ghostly white now, almost translucent. The bruises, which, surprisingly, hadn't healed yet, that could be seen around the edges of the cast on his right arm stood out on his skin like ink on white paper. He wasn't moving at all, save for the slight rise and fall of his chest.

Rei a sad sigh. Kai seemed to have gone from bad to worse over the past two hours, and he worried if Kai would pull through…

Rei shook the thoughts from his head. _'Don't think about that! Never ever think about that!' _he told himself.

It seemed ironic to Rei that something put into your body could do you more harm than getting stabbed in the stomach. Wounds on your skin could heal, but if something harmful got into your body and wasn't treated right away, it could mean death.

Rei let out a shaky breath and pulled up a chair next to the bed. Two hours. Two hours could decide if Rei's life would be changed forever. The small, measly two hours that had gone by since they had left the dojo held Kai's fate in there hands.

Rei held his head in his hands as the oncoming rush of tears began. They leaked through his fingers and dripped onto the tile floor with a wet _'plunk'. _And for the longest time, that's all Rei heard in the eerie silence of that God forsaken hospital room. That and the soft sound of Kai's breathing, the only indication that he was still alive.

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(sniff, sniff) Poor Kai! But this is an angst fic, you know. Can't have an angst fic without angst, now can you? Never fear however! Kai will NOT die! I can promise you that. Well, anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, cause it took me forever to write! You see, I had written the last few pages of the chapter yesterday, but then I accidentally closed out of Microsoft word before I saved it! I had to write it all over again! Anyway, enough of my complaints. Until next time, TTFN!


	20. Fighting

OMG OMG OMG! I'm soooooo sorry everyone! I know I haven't updated in ages! But wait! I have excuses!

(clears throat) Ok, number one: I broke my leg back in March. Early, EARLY March. Motocross accident. Enough said. So, that's been handicapping me for a while.

Number two: I just go Kingdom Hearts II! SQUEALLLLLL! I loves it to bits! But, I'm stuck right now, so that's the reason I've stopped playing it for a little while.

Number three: I have been recently introduced to the wonderful online game, Runescape. If any of you readers/reviewers, play on that site, my screen name's Hotbandgeek6, so add me to your friends list and talk to me sometime!

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

**Quote of the Update: **I think that the film Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in a way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness—**Alicia Silverstone**

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Blurry, unclear images had been swirling around in Kai's mind for hours. The last thing he could clearly remember was falling asleep on the back porch of the dojo. After that all hell had broken loose. Most of the things that happened after that were dulled and clouded by the pain. He had been constantly slipping in and out of unconsciousness throughout the whole ordeal, and it had become increasingly harder to differentiate dreams from reality. He could remember people screaming and fussing, and a few times he had been able to make out his name being called, which made him wonder if something bad had happened to him. Judging by the way he was feeling, something probably had.

Now things had finally settled down, making it easier for him to take his fevered thoughts and put them together so that they actually made sense the first time they ran through his mind. As he drifted slowly back to consciousness, the first thing Kai could make out was this annoying beeping sound. It was so loud (at least to him anyway) and all he wanted to do was to make it stop. He had a big enough headache as it was.

Kai slowly opened his eyes to see what was making the sound, and hopefully stop the stupid noise. The first thing he saw was a blinding light over his head. Needles of pain flared behind his sensitive eyes, causing him to abruptly close them again. His brow furrowed at the intensity of the pain that the light had caused.

Only when he moved his head to the left to avoid the light the next time he opened his eyes did Kai realize how weak he felt. Just turning his head was proving to be difficult. Never had he experienced a weakness quite like this. He managed to turn his head, but found himself exhausted afterwards. What was doing this to him?

Kai opened his eyes again. Because of the extreme exhaustion, however, he only managed to lift his eyelids halfway open. The room around him was so unfocused that everything just looked like a giant blob. And that damn noise! Every time the stupid…whatever it was that was making that sound…beeped, his head throbbed all the more.

At least things were beginning to come into focus. He could make out a figure next to him, obviously asleep, though he couldn't tell who it was. There was a lot of white too. The walls were white, the floor was white. So, he obviously wasn't at the dojo. He moved his eyes over to the wall on his left, and what he saw brought things rushing back into perspective.

A heart monitor.

A God damned heart monitor. That was what was making that noise! Which meant he was back in the hospital…

Kai could feel the frustration and extreme annoyance that was building up inside of him. He hated hospitals. He absolutely _hated _them. On the heart monitor, the green lines spiked. Kai was getting himself worked up, and that wasn't good. He knew that, and quite frankly, he didn't really care. He wanted out, and he wanted out now. The frustration turned to panic, causing the green lines to spike even more, which made that stupid sound even louder.

The figure next to him began to stir, the noise calling him out of his slumber. That was the last thing he could remember before slipping into a half-conscious, pain filled delirium…

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Rei could hear some sort of beeping sound deep in the back of his mind. At first he thought that he was just dreaming the noise up, but as he drifted further back into the conscious world, he realized that it was just the sound of Kai's heart monitor.

Rei's thoughts froze. Kai's heart monitor…Why was it so loud?

Reality hit Rei like a ton of bricks. Something was very wrong.

Rei's eyes snapped open. In his fully conscious state, the heart monitor was clearly much more loud than it should have been, so loud, in fact, that he was forced to cover his ears and grit his teeth against the noise.

He looked over to his left side. And there he found the reason for the noise. Kai was thrashing around on the hospital bed in a panic-filled state. Rei couldn't tell if he was even conscious or not, as his eyes were tightly shut, but if he didn't stop this madness soon, Kai could seriously hurt himself.

"Kai!" he yelled, hoping that his voice would break through to him. But Kai continued to thrash around as though he hadn't even heard Rei.

Rei was slipping into a panic himself. He didn't know what to do. Trying to hold him down might just make things worse, and Rei could hurt himself in the process. Thankfully, a doctor and two nurses rushed in just then, obviously having been alerted by Kai's dangerously fast heart rate.

"Get me a sedative!" yelled the doctor. One of the nurses wasted no time in grabbing a needle out of one of the cupboards and filling it with a sedative. She handed it hurriedly to the doctor, who injected it into one of the IVs attached to Kai's arm. The thrashing continued for a few moments, then Kai's body finally seemed to relax a bit. He collapsed onto the bed, motionless save for the faint rise and fall of his chest. The doctor let out a large sigh of relief, then placed a respirator mask over Kai's nose and mouth to help him breathe more regularly.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Rei stood on the far side of the room, (having moved to give the doctor more room) a shocked expression ever present on his face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly. Things just seemed to be getting more and more weird lately. First, Kai becomes dangerously sick over the lapse of a few minutes, then this. What was going on?

Rei's train of thought was broken off when the doctor suddenly spoke to him. "Perhaps you should leave," he said tiredly. "We're going to have to run a few tests to make sure nothing was damaged."

Rei simply nodded, not being able to find his voice to speak anything coherent. He walked out of the hospital room feeling more confused than he had in a long time.

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When Rei made it back to the waiting room, everyone else was asleep. Bruce and Judy sat slumped in two plastic chairs, their faces still lined with worry and concern even in sleep. Tyson, Max, and Kenny all lay sprawled on the floor, soft snoring coming from the exhausted teenage boys. Suki and Stephania were nowhere to be found. The part of Rei's brain that was actually thinking straight told him that they probably still out or back at the dojo. Obviously no one had been able to reach them yet.

Knowing that nothing could be helped by just staying awake any longer, Rei lay down beside his slumbering teammates and drifted into a deep sleep.

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The group was awoken the next morning by a phone ringing. Brows furrowed in annoyance, groans sounded in every direction, and curses were mumbled from each member in the room.

"God dammit, Tyson. Is that you?" cursed Rei (a very unusual occurrence for him, but his fuse was a little short). He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Tyson, too, sat up, stretching his aching back muscles from having slept on the floor all night. Several cracks were heard.

"Yeah, I think so." Tyson fumbled through his pockets until he found his cell phone. "Stupid thing," he mumbled under his breath.

"Hello?" he asked irritably.

"Tyson?"

"Suki!" At the name, everyone crowded around Tyson, save for Judy and Bruce, who were still trying to wake up.

"Where the hell are you!" Suki asked, her tone laced with worry.

"Psh! I could ask you the same thing! We've been trying to call you for hours."

"You have?"

"Yes! We've all been at the hospital since yesterday. Kai's temperature spiked when we got back from the match. He had to be rushed to the emergency room."

"Oh gosh…" she said breathlessly. "How is he?"

Tyson noted the concern in her voice, so he tried to be as…sympathetic as he possibly could (A/N: Wow, Tyson's actually using his brain today to try and spare someone's feelings…to bad he didn't try that in ch. 1). "He had to be moved to the ICU. We're not sure how he's doing at the moment, but--"

"Oh, shit!"

Tyson looked over to Rei, who was the one who had let out the curse. He had his head in his hands and looked distraught.

"What is it Rei?"

"Yesterday," he began. "Yesterday, when I fell asleep in Kai's room, I woke up around midnight and he…he was…"

"What! What happened, Rei!"

"He was totally freaking out on me. I guess he woke up and just started to panic. His heart rate was so high that they had to sedate him. That's when I came out here." Rei sighed. "Who knows what that could have done to him? He could be…"

Judy knelt down beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Rei. Worrying yourself sick won't help anything, so just try and relax."

Rei simply looked at her and nodded, not having to energy to argue. Then there was a brief silence. Suddenly, a static voice broke though the quiet.

"Hello? I'm still here."

Tyson nearly jumped at the voice, as it was emitting from his hand. "Sorry, Suki," he apologized into the tiny speaker.

"Tyson, what is going on?" Her voice shook as she spoke.

Tyson was silent for a moment. "I…I'm not sure Suki. Just meet us here, ok?"

"Ok…bye."

"Bye."

Tyson hung up the phone. At that moment, the doctor came into the room. He looked exhausted, but he didn't look as though he was bearing any bad news. In fact, he was smiling.

"Kai is fine," he said. You could almost feel the relief that surged into the room at those three words. "In fact, he seems that he is in near-perfect condition. We even thought it safe to move him out of the ICU. The sedative we gave him didn't seem to affect his health at all, like we feared it would, and, save for a slight incident we had last night, he seems to be doing just fine."

"Can he leave?" Bruce asked.

The doctor nodded. "Of course. All I need is for you to sign this release form." He handed it to Bruce, who signed it without hesitation. The doctor took it back from him once he was finished. "Alright, then. I'll go get one of the nurses to help him get ready and then you can be on your way."

The doctor walked out of the room and down the white corridor. Kenny spoke for the first time since they arrived at the hospital. "Doesn't this all seem a bit strange to you guys?"

They all exchanged puzzled glances. "What do you mean, Kenny?" asked Max.

"Think about it. First, we find Kai in Russia in critical condition, then, only three weeks later, he's almost completely healed, except for one part of his body, his right arm. That's the arm that Kai uses to launce. Doesn't that sound a bit suspicious?"

They all thought about it. It did seem a bit strange.

"Then, once we get back to Japan, Kai suddenly gets sick again. And not just any ordinary sickness, but a deadly fever in the lapse of five minutes. That's nearly impossible unless you've been poisoned. Now, he's suddenly just fine again. This is absolutely insane!"

"I'm afraid that Kenny has a point," agreed Judy. "Kai's health seems to be sporadically going from deadly to healthy at an impossible rate. But what could be causing it?"

As he always did in confusing situations, Kenny knelt down and opened Dizzi's lid. "I don't know, Judy, but I'm going to try and find out. Kenny's fingers became a blur over the keyboard as he desperately searched for answers. The others knew well enough not to bother him while he was concentrating.

Just then a nurse walked in with Kai, fully clothed and looking much better. Kai's face was, as always, a stoic mask of ice. The entire room was on him in a split second like moths drawn to a flame. Kai just simply crossed his arms over his chest and backed away from their touch.

"Come on, Kai," Tyson said cheerfully, elbowing him in the side, "don't be such a grump. Smile, or something." Tyson waited for a reaction, but Kai only glared at him with narrowed eyes. Tyson just shrugged. "I don't know about you sometimes, Kai, or why the only facial expression I ever get out of you is a smirk. But hey, don't mind me, or my feelings. Just smother all the cheerfulness in the room. See if I care."

Kai pretended to think about it, then shrugged. "Works for me," he stated simply, then walked out the doorway and started down the hall. They all sweatdropped.

"Well," started Judy, "we'd better get going. I think we've all had enough drama for one day."

They all nodded. Then everyone followed Kai's footsteps. Kenny closed Dizzi's lid and started after them, the mystery that was Kai's condition still bouncing around in his brain.

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On the way back from the hospital, Tyson phoned Suki and let her know that Kai was fine and to head back to the dojo. She was relieved to say the least, as was Stephania. Now, the two girls were walking back from their mad rush to the hospital. Suki's brow was furrowed in frustration. She kept pondering the things that Tala had told her over the payphone that night a few weeks back, and wondered if he and the other Demolition Boyz were doing alright. Suki thought back to that dark, cold night…

**FLASHBACK **

"_What's going on, Tala?" she demanded to know. _

"_Well…"started Tala, not really knowing how to but the information he had found into words, "it has to do with Kai, but more importantly it had to do with this new device that Voltaire thought up right before that island facility blew up and took Boris with it. This device…I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's dangerous. Voltaire's planning something. That's why he blew up that island after Kai escaped." _

"_You think that Voltaire blew up that island? But why?"_

"_Something to do with 'not wanting to share power', or something like that." _

Suki's breath caught in her throat. "You don't think that Voltaire blew up that island to kill Boris, do you?"  


"_Not only that, but all of those BioVolt cronies, along with priceless technology. There was someone or something in there that Voltaire didn't want anyone to find. I think that the people working there knew about his plans, and I think there was proof in that place about that device he's making." _

"_Tala, we have to do something about this!" _

"_We will Suki, we will. But right now you can't tell anyone about this. I don't know when Voltaire will strike or how, but if he finds out that we know any of this, he'll kill us all. I have to stay here and sabotage what I can."  
_

"_Ok, but Tala?"   
_

"_Yeah?" _

"_Be careful." _

"_I will." _

**END FLASHBACK **

Suki hadn't heard from him since, and she was getting worried. Tala was putting himself in a very dangerous position, and Suki wasn't sure how long he could do that before Voltaire caught on.

"Hey, Suki? Suki?"

Suki shook her head as Stephania's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

She looked into Stephania's worry-filled eyes. "Are you ok? You seem kind of out of it."

Suki nodded. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day, that's all."

Stephania nodded as well. Then her eyes focused in front of her. "Well, we're here."

Suki looked up, and indeed there was the dojo, sitting right in front of them. They both ran inside, anxious to see how Kai and the others were doing.

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Kai should have expected all the smothering that he was getting, he knew that, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. Not only had Suki and Stephania toppled him onto the ground when they had arrived, but he had to but up with everyone's constant mothering. Every time he sat down, stood up, coughed, blinked or breathed, someone was on top of him asking if he was ok or feeling his forehead. He didn't like it at all. In fact, he thought it was safe to say that he absolutely hated it. So, he decided to go out on the dojo's porch to get some fresh air.

The sun was just setting below the horizon, painting the sky with pinks and reds and oranges. You could just barely see the first stars peeking through the sunset, and the cool evening breeze rustled the leaves of the trees. Kai stood there watching it, feeling peaceful for the first time in ages. That was, until, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Kai, can I talk to you?"

It was Rei. Kai groaned. In a situation such as this one, Rei hadn't come out here just to talk. He was going to be questioned, and he knew it. So, bracing himself, he turned around to face Rei.

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Rei shifted his weight from one leg to the other, not sure how to begin the conversation. What Kenny had said at the hospital was still bothering him, and he needed to get things straight with Kai before his mind could be at ease.

"Kai, I need to know what happened when you were with Voltaire, and I need to know why you got sick so suddenly."

Kai's face was an emotionless mask as he spoke. "It's none of your business, Rei. What happened there is done now, so don't bother concerning yourself with it."

Rei rolled his eyes. "Kai, I _need _to know why this is happening to you. If you don't tell me than we'll never know how to help you."

"Why do you even care?"

"Because you're my friend, Kai!"

"Well, if you want to be a friend to me, than just leave me alone!"

Rei let his arms drop to his sides, his eyes never leaving Kai's. "No. I'm not leaving you alone until I know how to help you!"

"Maybe I don't want help!"

"Or maybe you're just scared!"

"Of what!"

"Of letting someone in! Of letting down you're emotion barriers long enough for someone to help you! Kai, if you never let anyone else into you're life, you're going to be alone forever!"

"Maybe I prefer to be alone! And I am not scared, Rei!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not! Stop acting like you know me because you don't!"

"Don't yell at me because I don't know you! You never let anyone in long enough to get to know you! You're always hiding, always avoiding people! If you don't care if you're alone or not, then what are you so afraid of!"

"I already told you, Rei! Nothing! Now leave me alone!"

"No!"

"Fine, then I'll leave you!"

Kai brushed past him, knocking into Rei's shoulder as he did so. Rei didn't even glance back at him, but instead but his head in his hands and groaned. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

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Phew! Things were defiantly heating up there! For a minute, I thought that I could actually see flames coming out of the computer screen!

A/N: For those of you who are reading Poveglia, sorry about not updating. I'm more worried about this story than that one, so its progress will be a little slow until this story is done. Gomen!


	21. Strange Happenings

Hello all! Now, I know you're all wondering 'what the heck is she updating so fast for?' Well, I was struck with a big lightning bolt, ya see! A lightning bolt of inspiration! I doubt that any of you will be upset with the super speedy update. As it is, because I've updated so fast, nothing really interesting had happened in my life so I guess that that means that I won't be blabbing at you guys as much today! Yay!

Also, if any of you would like to print out my story, you can. I am giving you full permission as the authoress! A few people asked about that, so I'm just letting you know.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own nothin' but my OCs.

**Quote of the Update: **I just want to pop that inflatable bitch and watch her fly around the room!—That 70's Show

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Tyson and the others were sitting in the living room when the back screen-door suddenly was opened and shut loudly and a very angry-looking Kai came storming in.

Tyson practically jumped off the couch and sprinted over to him. "Kai, what is it?"

Kai didn't seem to acknowledge his presence and continued walking hurriedly until he was out the door and halfway down the street. Tyson stood there, scratching his head. The other also got up and walked over to where he was standing.

"Well," started Max, "that was weird."

Tyson nodded. "It sure was. What do you think happened?"

They all shrugged. "Hey, didn't Rei go out on the porch earlier to talk to Kai? Do you think that's why he was so angry?" Stephania inquired.

Kenny nodded. "It could be. We all know how Kai gets when people bother him about things that he doesn't want to talk about. We should go ask Rei what happened."

So, they all walked out on the back porch to find Rei leaning on the porch railing, a grim look on his face.

"Rei?" asked Tyson. "Do you know what's wrong with Kai?"

Rei threw his hands in the air. "What isn't wrong with him! God, he's always so difficult!" And with that Rei stormed into the dojo in Kai's footsteps, leaving the others behind him with puzzled looks on their faces.

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Kai walked angrily down the street, his hands in his pockets. The sun had already gone down, but he didn't care. He preferred to stay in the shadows when he could, away from all the crowds and attention. He was still fuming from what Rei had said. Ok, sure, maybe he had been right, but that still didn't give him any right to stick his nose in other people's business! There were some things that he would just rather keep to himself, and he thought that Rei, of all people, would understand.

Kai was already frustrated to begin with. Because of that stupid run in with Voltaire, he had shown weakness in front of the very people he had sworn not to. He had been to the hospital numerous times, and his health couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go. He was sick of it all. Sick of all the hospital visits, sick of all the questioning, and sick of that damn cast on his arm! Because of that, he couldn't participate in the tournament. And because of that, he might never be able to beyblade the way he used to ever again.

Kai absentmindedly pulled Dranzer out of his pocket. The blue blade shined in the moonlight. He wished he knew what was happening to him and why. But more so, he wished it all would stop.

Kai was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't even notice the person walking swiftly toward him and collided head on with him. Both of them fell unceremoniously onto the ground. Once Kai was finished with muttering Russian curses under his breath, his crimson eyes flashed up to meet the person who had ran into him. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat.

There, sitting on the pavement in front of him, was Tala. Tala's eyes traveled up to meet Kai's as well. The same shocked look crossed his face.

"Kai!"

"Tala!"

"What are you doing here!" they both yelled in unison.

"What do you mean what am I doing here!" demanded Kai while scrambling to his feet. "I think I have just a little more cause to be here than you do!"

Tala also scrambled to his feet. "I know, I know. I was just expecting to see you at the dojo, that's all."

"What are you even doing here! Aren't you supposed to be in Russia with Voltaire?" Kai asked with a sneer.

"Don't start that, ok? You should know by now that I wouldn't leave you guys to join your loony bin of a grandfather and his cronies."

"Will you just answer my question, Tala?"

Tala sighed. "Ok, but I have to be quick. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get here, and there's no way that I made it this far without someone at BioVolt finding out." Tala looked around, as if scanning the area to make sure that no one was watching. "I came here to warn you," he said in a low voice.

"Warn me?"

"Yeah, I already told Suki most of what I know—

"Why the hell would you—

"—but things are getting really bad back in Russia, and there was no way I could warn you guys in any other way but to just come here myself. It's Voltaire. He's planning something big, Kai, something that none of us may live through. I can't tell you why, exactly, but you and Rei need to be extremely careful."

"Why just Rei and I?"

"Well, everyone needs to watch their backs, but you two most of all. Stay out of danger as much as possible. Don't let yourselves get injured in any way."

"But why—

"I already told you, I can't tell you everything! You're just going to have to trust me."

Kai nodded. He may not know all the details, but he trusted Tala. If anyone had even the slightest clue as to what Voltaire was planning, it would be him.

Tala's head suddenly whipped to the side. "I have to go," he said urgently. Then, he ran off in the other direction.

"Tala, wait!" Kai yelled, running after him.

"Don't follow me, Kai!"

"But Tala—

Just then two giant arms wrapped themselves around Kai and a massive hand covered his mouth preventing him from speaking. Tala stopped running and turned to face him, his eyes wide. "Kai!" Tala attempted to run after him, but a large, dark form behind him grabbed him as well and began to drag him backwards.

Kai, seeing that his friend was in danger, bit the hand that was covering his mouth as hard as he could. The man loosened his hold and Kai broke free and began running towards Tala. A sudden pain shot up his neck as he did so, but Kai ignored it and punched the man that was holding Tala hard in the face. Tala was released.

"Kai, listen to me! Run away!"

"I'm not leaving you here, Tala!"

"You have to!" Tala insisted. "If they take you the whole world will be in danger!" Tala opened his mouth to say more but a large foot kicked him hard in the stomach, rendering him unconscious.

"Tala!" Another pain shot up Kai's neck. He knew it must have been a sedative, but he didn't care. He lunged at the man that was bending over to pick up Tala's unconscious form, wrapping his arms around the man's massive neck. The man struggled to pull him off, but to no avail. Kai's death grip never faltered.

The man became irritated and slammed Kai into a nearby wall. Kai might have been able to hold on if his head hadn't crashed into the wall as well. Flashes of light obscured his vision as he found to gain control of the situation, but it was too late. The man took advantage of Kai's lapse of weakness to turn him around and latch onto the boy's neck. His oxygen supply was completely shut off. Darkness licked at his vision.

Though all the pain he could hear a distant voice. "Let him go, Dmitri, you'll kill him! Voltaire said to bring the Ivanhov boy, and no one else. We will have are way with him in due time, but that won't happen if you suffocate him."

That was the last thing he heard before falling into darkness.

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"Kai!"

Tyson, Max, Rei, Kenny, and the girls, along with Bruce and Judy, wandered the streets, looking for any sign of their missing friend and calling his name. He had been gone for four and a half hours, and they were getting worried. It wasn't unlike Kai to go missing for hours at a time, but it was going on 2:00 in the morning. And considering his current health condition, it was likely that something could have happened to him.

They had been walking for five straight miles, and were beginning to lose hope. "Maybe we should just give up. You know how Kai is when he wants to be alone. If he wants to stay hidden, then he'll stay hidden."

"We know that, Tyson, but if there's a chance that something could have happened to him, we should keep looking. And there's a big chance," Bruce pointed out.

Walking next to Tyson, Rei silently mused about his fight with Kai. Rei was still angry at him for the things that were said, but he didn't want anything bad to happen to him either.

Just then Max gasped and pointed ahead. "Look guys!"

There, lying motionless on the ground, was Kai.

"Kai!" someone yelled. They all ran over to the unconscious form of their friend. Rei was the first to get there. He knelt down beside Kai, assessing the damage. He was lying on his stomach, his breath coming in short, desperate gasps. Numerous bruises covered his body. Rei checked his pulse. It was sluggish under his fingertips. That was odd. There didn't seem to be anything wrong except for some bruises, so why wasn't he breathing regularly?

Rei flipped Kai over to assess him further. There he found his answers. Kai's neck had ugly black and blue marks shaped in the form of two hands. Someone had tried to strangle him. Rei's breath caught in his throat at the sight, as did everyone else's as they watched Rei. Rei felt along Kai's ribcage as well. When his hands came across three nubs of bone poking up under his skin, Kai gasped unconsciously in pain. Rei removed his hand. Who had done this?

Stephania broke through the circle of worried friends to kneel beside Rei. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked with concern.

Rei nodded. "I think so. It doesn't look too bad." Bruce knelt down beside the two also, lifting Kai carefully into his arms.

"Come on," he urged. "We'd better get him back to the dojo." Without so much as a lingering glance Bruce raced back toward the direction of the dojo.

The others, not needing to be told a second time, followed him.

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Kai woke up to see many anxious faces hovering over him. When he realized what must have happened, he groaned. He was practically throwing himself into these pathetic situations lately.

Kai sat up on what appeared to be the living room couch, earning protests of concern from everyone in the room. "Kai, you shouldn't be moving!" argued Suki loudly. "We found you unconscious in the street, you know!"

Kai sneered. "I'm fine, Suki."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

Rei stepped up. "When we found you, you had three broken ribs and severe bruising. You're not fine!"

"Yes I am, Rei!"

"Don't lie to me, Kai!"

"I'm not lying!" And he wasn't. Kai felt perfectly fine, like he hadn't even been injured at all. To prove his point, he stood up and folded his arms over his chest.

"You're not?"

"No, look for yourself." Kai pulled down his scarf to show them his neck. There were no signs of the bruising that had been there before. Rei looked down at Kai's ribs. His abdomen was flat, and no signs of the broken ribs could be seen.

"But how…why…who…?" Rei stammered.

"Kai, when we found you, you _had _been injured. How can you be completely healed? It's only been a few hours." Bruce pointed out.

"Hell if I know, or care." Kai began to walk out of the room when Tyson asked. "What happened out there, Kai?"

Kai stopped dead in his tracks. The memory of Tala and the BioVolt cronies flashed through his mind. Now he remembered. The warning that Tala had traveled hundreds of miles to give him, the vicious battle, all of it was vivid in his mind.

"Tala," he whispered.

"Tala?" asked Stephania. "What does Tala have to do with anything?"

Kai was about to tell them what happened, then decided against it. He didn't want to get them any more involved in this than they already were. "Nothing," he replied stoically.

"Then what happened?"

Kai shrugged. "None of your business."

"None of our business! But Kai—

"Don't we have a beybattle against the Majestics tomorrow?" asked Kai, changing the subject. Puzzled faces resulted from the quick change.

"Uh…yeah…," replied Tyson.

"Then all of us need to get in bed, _now._ We're beyblading tomorrow and I'm competing."

"But Kai, your arm…," protested Judy.

"Don't worry about it! No one needs to worry about that but me! Now, I'm competing tomorrow, and we're going to bed now!" And with that, Kai stormed out of the house and into the backyard.

Tyson sighed. "By 'we', I'm guessing he means us, and not him."

Max nodded. "At least he didn't go running off again."

"He was right, though, Tyson. It's going on 4:00 in the morning. You and everyone else need to get to bed," said Bruce.

"But dad, what about Kai—

"Don't worry about him; he's been through a lot lately. Just worry about yourself." 

Tyson was about to object when Bruce gave him a stern look.

"Fine!" He turned around and marched down the hall, the others in tow.

Bruce and Judy stole a glance at the back door, then heading off to their rooms.

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The next morning began with Kai turning on every light in the house and ripping off everyone's blankets, while yelling at them to get their lazy asses out of bed. Groans and protests followed, but Kai would hear none of it. In less than an hour they were piling themselves into a BBA van.

When they made it to the stadium, they found that it was strangely empty. There were cars parked outside, but there was no sign of any living thing around.

"That's strange," commented Judy as they walked toward the massive building. "Usually this place is so crowded that you can't even find the entrance."

Bruce nodded. "This defiantly is weird."

Suki and Kai thought back to Tala's warnings. Even though Tala had warned them each in a different way, the message had been clear: Watch your backs and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And this was defiantly suspicious.

When they finally made it inside the stadium, it was pitch black. "Hey, why aren't any of the lights on!" yelled Tyson.

As if Tyson had said some magic word, every light in the stadium flashed on. And standing in the center of the ring, was Voltaire. He merely grinned at them.

"Hello Kai."

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Ha ha! Cliffhanger! (dodges rotten tomatoes) Ok, ok, I know, that was totally evil. But don't worry! All will become clear in the next chapter! Also, I apologize 'cause this chapter was a bit short, but I packed it full of action, so I hope that makes up for the shortness a little…maybe…oh well. Anyway, see ya later!


	22. Getting Answers

Load up on guns, bring your friends  
It's fun to lose, and to pretend  
She's overboard, and self-assured  
I know, I know , a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello, how low,  
Hello, hello, hello, how low,

Hello, hello, hello, how low,  
Hello, hello, hello...

With the lights out, it's less dangerous  
Here we are now, entertain us  
I feel stupid, and contagious  
Here we are now, entertain us  
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido,  
Yeah

In case you're wondering what that song is that I pasted on, it's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. I'm using that song in this chapter, so I just decided to stick some of the lyrics in here.

So, how's the world on this fine day? I'm at home sick right now and bored out of my mind, so decided to write, which should make you all very happy. I hope everyone had a better memorial day weekend than I did. I spent my weekend 200 miles away from my house until Sunday, and then I had to wake up at 8:00 in the morning on Monday for a Memorial Day Ceremony in 90 degree heat for band! And not only that, but we had to wear black dress pants AND march! And it keeps getting better! We had to play facing directly east at 10:00 in the morning! I swear, I almost went blind. My band director's like, "Ok, if you feel like you're going to pass out from the heat, just get down on the ground before you fall over." Such encouraging words.

Anyway, on with the chapter that you guys have been waiting for!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it

**Quote of the Update: **Strangely in slow motion replay, the ball seems to hang in the air for even longer—David Acfield

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Everyone stood shock still at the sight of Voltaire standing in the middle of the stadium. Kai seemed the most shocked out of all of them. Tala had tried to warn him. He had tried to tell him what Voltaire was planning to do. Hell only knew where Tala was now, or what was being done to him as a punishment.

"What…why…how?" Stephania managed to choke out from where she stood next to Suki.

Voltaire laughed at the expression on the girl's face. "My dear Stephania, it really has been too long."

"Don't you talk to her, you bastard!" yelled Kai angrily.

Voltaire focused his attention from Stephania to Kai. "Hold your tongue, you insolent boy."

Suddenly, Kai fell to his knees, holding his stomach where the three broken ribs had been the previous day. His jaw clenched at the sudden pain. As soon as he fell to his knees, his friends were right beside him.

Kai looked up at Voltaire, his eyes swirling with anger. "What did you do!" he demanded.

Voltaire let out an evil chuckle. "The same thing I did to you yesterday, and when you were emitted into the hospital. The same thing that I did to your friend Rei when he was injured."

They all gasped, and Kai and Rei's eyes widened. "So it was you!" Rei pointed a finger at the evil Russian.

"Yes, it was…" Voltaire trailed off, as if he was unsure of whether he should let slip the information that he was about to reveal. Then, "Take those two away, and give them something to make them forget this ever happened." He pointed at Judy and Bruce. "I don't want them running to the police with this information."

The group looked around, wondering who Voltaire was talking to, but found no one. Just then, all the lights in the room went off, and when they turned back on, Judy and Bruce had vanished.

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

Max and Tyson began running towards the door, searching frantically for their parents, when the sound of 100 guns being loaded echoed through the stadium. Out of the shadows around the outer edges of the large building stepped nearly 100 black clad sniper shooters, and all of their guns were aimed directly at the group of teens. Max and Tyson stopped dead in their tracks.

"I can't have you running away, can I?"

Tyson sneered at Voltaire. "What did you do with them!"

"Oh, don't worry, they won't be harmed. That is all you need to know." Tyson was about to protest, but Voltaire interrupted. "Need I remind you that you are surrounded by professional marksmen with no way out of this vicinity? I suggest that you behave yourself if you do not wish to be buried six feet under before this is through. Now then," he looked back at Kai, "I don't want you kneeling on the floor like a dog while I say this to you."

The pain in Kai's ribcage suddenly vanished. He stood back up and sneered at Voltaire. "What the hell is going on!"

"Well, since I have eliminated all possibilities that any of this information will leave this building, I suppose I could tell you."

"Just get on with it, you patronizing bastard!" Stephania yelled fiercely.

Before anyone could even blink, Voltaire whipped out a handgun and shot a bullet so that it nearly took Stephania's ear with it. Her mouth immediately closed. "I am the one holding the cards here, not you. If you give me another order again, child, I swear to you that the next time I decide to shoot a bullet at you, I will not miss." Stephania didn't retort, instead settling with glaring daggers at him instead.

"Now where was I? Oh yes, I was just about to inform you about my little plan that's when circulating for a while now. Of course, I won't tell you all of it; that would be sheer stupidity. I will tell you this, however. For the past two months, or so, I have been watching you all very closely, ever since the world tournament ended, as a matter of fact. I wonder, were any of you aware that the past two months that I have been watching you were all planned out by me?"

The only response that Voltaire got was a very confused silence. He chuckled. "No, I suppose not. What kind of criminal mastermind would I be if I had let such a detail slip to the opposition? Anyway, about a week after the tournament ended, I got the break I needed. You see, I knew that tensions would be running high between the group of you, and I knew that sooner or later, a fight would break out. And one did. I also knew that when a fight did break out, one of you, I didn't really care which, would go out looking for Kai after he left in a huff. And one of you did."

Voltaire turned his steely eyes to Rei, causing him to shudder at the glare. "W-what do you mean?" asked Rei after he found his voice, although he was afraid of the answer.

Voltaire smiled. "Insurance. Plain and simple. I needed someway to make sure that I had some power over Kai. And that's where you come in, Rei. I have been working on this... 'device', I suppose you could call it. It can control the human immune system. You being shot was no accident, Rei. Let me ask you, do you honestly think you could have lived after being shot fatally and then thrown off a pier?"

Rei's eyes widened in shock. What had Voltaire done to him?

"What did you do to Rei, you bastard!" yelled Kai angrily.

"Why, the same thing I did to you, young Kai. I planted the device on the pair of you. I had two men plant one on Rei after he was thrown off the pier, and I planted one on you before you escaped in Siberia. You'll be happy to know, by the way, that the Siberia incident was my plan too. All except that little mishap in the cell."

"So you're saying that you but some goddamn thing inside of Rei and I to control us! Why Rei!"

"Oh, I didn't really care who it was that I planted the second device on, Kai. Rei was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. This way, if you decide to act up, I'll not only have control over you, but over your friend as well. Would you like a demonstration?"

All of a sudden, the raw scar left by the bullet on Rei's abdomen burst open, and blood began seeping through his shirt. Rei fell to his knees and placed a shaky hand over his stomach. In a flash, all his friends were kneeling beside him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Kai turned to Voltaire and lunged at him. Voltaire didn't even flinch. Just as Kai was about to land his fist in Voltaire's face, a harsh yell sounded behind him. Kai skidded to a halt and looked behind him. Rei was lying on his back, the wound on his abdomen bleeding even more profusely.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you. We wouldn't want anything more to befall your friend, now would we?"

"Stop it! Stop it now, Voltaire!"

Voltaire wagged a finger at him. "Only if you decide to behave."

"Fine! Whatever! Now STOP!"

Voltaire complied, and the wound on Rei's stomach stopped bleeding. Tyson helped him to his feet.

"Now that you've had an informative demonstration, I think I shall continue. Did you also know that I organized this tournament as well? The BBA will do anything if you offer them enough money. I thought that a large, empty stadium would be a great way to capture you all like rats."

"Here's the deal, Kai. You either come with me, or I'll kill all of your friends and force you to come anyway. What will it be?"

Kai's face contorted in anger, and his fisted clenched until his knuckles turned white. "Fuck you," he cursed quietly, but walked silently over to his grandfather nonetheless. The others stared in shock as their team captain walked shamefully to the enemy's side.

"Kai, what are you doing!" yelled Tyson furiously.

"You're just going to leave, after all we've been through!"

"You can't!"

"Will you all just shut the hell up!" The outbursts ceased on Kai's command. "It's either I leave with him, or all of us will be carried out of here in body bags! Which do you prefer!"

It was silent for what seemed like an eternity. They all stared sadly at the floor. They didn't want Kai to go; they knew what would happen if he did. But they also knew what would happen if he didn't.

"Kai…he'll kill you," said Suki softly.

"I don't care."

"Well you should, you dumbass! We do!" Tears were streaming down her face in salty rivers.

"Well, that's quite enough of that," Voltaire interrupted, even though he was loving every second of the scene that was playing out in front of him. "I think we had better be going." He took Kai by the wrists and threw him into some men who were standing behind him that none of them had even realized were there. The men seized Kai roughly, even though he had no thoughts whatsoever of trying to escape, not with the stakes this high.

As they began walking out of the building, Suki yelled, "Don't worry, Kai! We'll find you! We won't let him kill you!" She could almost imagine him rolling his eyes and thinking, _'Like hell, you will.' _

It wasn't until he was gone that Max pointed out something very important. "Where's Stephania?"

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Stephania crept stealthily through the shadows of the outside of the stadium, doing her best to keep herself out of the sunlight. She had escaped an abbey full of armed guards and security cameras at the age of seven, and wasn't about to be stopped from escaping that building no matter how many guns were pointed in her direction. She had snuck out just as Kai surrendered to Voltaire. Now, she could see her disgustful grandfather and her brother (along with a bunch of other guys standing at the ready in case Kai tried to make a run for it) walking over to BioVolt's signature black van.

Stephania broke out into a heavy run, heading straight for the van. Just as it was revving up and pulling out of the parking lot, she jumped onto the bumper in a crouch below the back windows so no one would see her. Not an easy feat, as she was 5'8 and quite tall.

Stephania did her best to hang on to the van as it sped down the road, having no clue where it was going, but having her mind set on finding out.

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Tyson, Max, Rei, Kenny, and Suki all sat quietly in the living room of the dojo. There was no sign of Stephania or there parents, but Suki assured them that Stephania could take care of herself, and Voltaire had said that their parents would be returned to them unharmed. But then, who could really trust anything Voltaire said?

Rei wrote something on a piece of paper and passed it to Tyson. It read: _We have to do something! Voltaire's gonna kill Kai if we don't come up with a plan. _

Tyson stared at the paper for a moment, looked at Rei, then wrote: _Dude, why the hell are you telling me this on a piece of paper? _

Tyson passed the paper back to Rei, only to have it passed back to him only seconds afterwards.

_Because, Voltaire said that he'd been watching us. _Watching! _He probably has this place bugged. That means he can probably hear everything that we say. If he finds out that we're planning to free Kai, he'll kill us! _

_Oh, I see. Well, I don't know. What are we supposed to do? Voltaire's got a whole army behind him, and what do we have? Nothing! I don't know how you expect us to beat him. _

_We could always call the police. _This time it was Max who had wrote. Kenny then took the piece of paper and began writing.

_I don't think so, Max. Voltaire has immense power. And I doubt that the authorities would believe our story. And if Voltaire has the dojo bugged, he probably has other places bugged as well. Who knows what he'd do if he found out that we were planning on letting loose his plans to the police? _

Suki yanked the paper away from the boys and started scribbling on it furiously.

_You all are so stupid! The only way to find Kai is to find out were Voltaire is heading. And we can't do that until Stephania gets back. She probably went to find some information about where Voltaire's going. Then, we're just going to have to get him back ourselves. Voltaire has control over most of the police forces in Japan. So we're all going to have to be a little bit patient if we want this to work! And we can't just stop at rescuing Kai. Voltaire needs to be stopped, and there's only one way to do that, and that's to kill him. _

She then got up off the floor and stomped into the spare bedroom that she and Stephania were sharing, and started blasting Nirvana on the stereo. The boys just looked at each other, silently deciding that it was probably best just to leave her alone for the time being.

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Suki was upset. So upset, in fact, that she had resorted to turning up the volume on the stereo as loud as her hearing threshold would allow and screaming into a pillow. She knew. She had known the whole time, but she hadn't told them.

'_Don't be so hard on yourself. Tala told you not to tell anyone, so you didn't. There was no way you could have known that this would happen.'_

'_Screw Tala! I should have told them! Maybe if I would have, this whole thing would have never happened!'_

'_You know that's not true. Voltaire would have found some way to find Kai even if you had told them. Besides, you had no idea when or where he was going to strike.' _

'_But maybe if I had told them, we could have been more careful and— _

'_Oh, stop it! There was nothing you could have done! There's no use in beating yourself up about it now. What's done is done.' _

"_Just shut up.' _

And with that, Suki began to cry tears of anger, sorrow, and hopelessness.

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Stephania dismounted the bumper of the van as it pulled into an airport parking lot and slipped under the car so she wouldn't be seen. She heard the sound of a car door slamming shut, footsteps, and then Voltaire telling his cronies to stay in the van. As soon as the footsteps were far enough away, Stephania crawled out from under the vehicle and followed silently behind them. Once they were inside the cool, air conditioned building, Stephania saw Voltaire and Kai walking toward a gate that was headed for Moscow, Russia. So they were headed for the abbey. What better place to initiate the final stage of a plan for world domination then to do it where the plan had been started?

Stephania whipped out her cellphone, hoping to everything holy that it wasn't bugged, and dialed Suki's number. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" Suki's voice sounded though the speakers, along with what Stephania believed to be the lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

"Suki, I know where he's going."

"Where!"

"The abbey."

There was a slight pause. "Not very original, is he?"

Stephania rolled her eyes. "Suki, we don't have time for this! I'm boarding the same plane they are. I want you guys to meet me in Moscow, ok?"

"Ok."

Stephania hung up the phone and raced on to the plane.

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Kai sat in the window seat of the airplane, feeling extremely uncomfortable sitting so close to his grandfather. He had an immense urge to scowl at him, but was afraid of what would happen to his friends if he did. Especially Rei, since Voltaire could make him drop down dead whenever he chose without having to go through the process of hiring hit men and leaving evidence behind.

All of a sudden, Kai felt a tug at his mind. He sat up a little at the sudden feeling, wondering what it was. Then, he felt another tug, and another, until someone was actually talking to him in his mind.

'_Kai? Kai, can you hear me? It's me, Stephania.' _

Kai resisted the urge to gasp. How in the hell was Stephania talking to him? _'That's it, I must be going crazy.' _

'_No, you're not. Remember our powers? We can use them to communicate with each other.'_

'_When did you figure this out?' _

'_I don't know, it just sorta came to me a few minutes ago. But that's not important. Listen to me, I am on the plane with you.' _

Kai looked around the plane at those words. Unfortunately, Voltaire noticed.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, nothing." _'Please, let him just forget about it.' _

Voltaire seemed satisfied, and turned away from his grandson.

'_What the hell are you doing on the plane!'_

'_I want to help you.' _

'_You're going to get yourself killed!'_

'_Need I remind you who the older sibling is and who the younger sibling is? I'm not an idiot. And I'm not weak. I've taken on Voltaire before, and I can do it again. I've already called Suki and told her to come. We're taking him down once and for all.' _

'_You dragged the others into this? Stephania!' _

'_Kai, I know you're worried about them, but you have to let us help you. Why do you insist on doing things alone when you don't have to?' _

Kai was silent for a moment, taken aback by the words. Why did he always want to be alone? Especially when he had people around him that are willing to help. Maybe it was time to come out of his shell. Maybe it was time to change.

'_Ok, but this won't be easy.' _

'_When has anything ever been easy?' _

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Well, there you have it. We're getting closer and closer to the big showdown! I can't wait!


	23. Strange Plans and Strange Results

Hi everyone! Guess what? I managed to update before school starts! Hoodoo! Consider yourselves lucky that my writer's block cleared up. And that my sister got off the computer for more than five minutes so I could actually finish typing this.

I know this isn't relevant to the story whatsoever, but I just got done watching Titanic with my sister and I balled! It wasn't like one of those cries were a couple tears fall down you cheeks. It was all out blow your nose, puffy eyes, can't speak coherently cries! And my sister was crying just the same! My mom came in to tell us something, and there we are, sitting on the couch balling and cursing Celine Dion and her stupid emotional theme song.

I also saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and let me tell you, it was awesome! I loved it so much! But they were so mean at the end! I was just thinking, I can't wait another year to find out what happens! Damn you Disney, you did that on purpose! Ok, I won't say anymore for those of you who haven't seen it yet.

**Also, for those of you reading Poveglia, fear not! For I have half of the next chapter done! It WILL be updated eventually! Why am I putting this in bold? Cuz I want you to read it damnit! **

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it

**Quote of the update: Elizabeth: **One day there will be a moment when you'll want to do something good for a change. **Jack: **I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.—Pirate of the Caribbean.(I'm not sure if what Elizabeth said is accurate, but it was something close to that.)

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Suki hung up her cellphone and began throwing things aimlessly into a duffel bag. She had to hurry; they had to get to Russia as soon as possible. Once her bag was packed, she ran through the door and bolted into the living room.

"Listen up!"

All heads turned to the frantic teen in the middle of the room.

"What is it Su—

"I want you all packed and ready in five minutes! Got it!"

"But Suki, where are we—

"FIVE MINUTES!"

Not wanting to feel Suki's wrath, they all scattered like flies in different directions, furiously packing their belongings. In less than five minutes, they were all in Tyson's grandpa's car, and Suki was revving up the engine.

"Uh, Suki? Could you please, please, _please_ be careful? If Grandpa comes back from vacation and finds his car totaled, he'll ki—

The words were snatched away from Tyson when Suki floored the car onto the street and—with a very loud screech from the tires—headed for the airport.

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"Ok, let me get this straight. Stephania called you on your cellphone?" asked Tyson.

"Yes."

"And she told you that she had stowed away on a flight that Kai and Voltaire were taking to Russia?" asked Rei.

"Yes."

"And now we're going to take a separate flight to Russia to find Kai and kill Voltaire?" asked Max.

"Yes."

"Are you crazy, Suki!" yelled Kenny. "Voltaire could have bugged your phone! What if he heard you!"

"It's a little late for that. Now, less talking, more running."

The group of teens were currently sprinting through crowds of people in a nearby airport, trying to make it to their gate. Suki was being less than courteous when it came to not bumping into the people in front of them, (In fact, she was all out ramming anyone who dared to get in her way) but she didn't seem to care.

"Do you even have tickets with you?" asked Rei.

"Nope."

"When exactly were you planning on getting them!"

"Don't know, don't care. Shut up and run."

Finally they found a gate that was boarding a flight headed to Russia. Suki raced up to the counter.

"I need five tickets to Moscow."

The women stared at her for a moment, shocked at the urgentness that was in her voice, then started typing on her keyboard. "You're in luck. We have five seats available for a flight headed for Moscow in 20 minutes. Name?

"Suki Akiwara."

"May I see some ID?"

Suki pulled her driver's license out of her wallet and slapped it down on the desk. The women looked at the plastic card and frowned. "I'm sorry, but we don't sell tickets to minors."

"Listen lady, this is really urgent. I _need _those tickets."

"I'm sorry, but we have a strict policy not to—

"JUST GIVE ME THE TICKETS DAMNIT!"

Everyone stood shock still. Many gasped and covered their mouths with their hands. The rest just stared with open mouths. The women did not look amused.

"That's it. I'm calling security." The women picked up the phone and began dialing. Suki reached out her hand, grabbed the telephone cord, and ripped it in half. Then, in a low and dangerous voice she said:

"If you don't give those tickets now, I will tear you apart with my bare hands and throw you out that window," Suki pointed to the window on her left, "right over there. You got that?"

The women nodded and handed her five tickets to Suki without even asking for any money. Suki ripped her driver's license from her hand.

"Thanks so much. Have a nice day." With that, Suki walked away from the counter and sat on one of the chairs. The boys followed her.

"Wow Suki," began Tyson, "I don't think I've ever seen you that pissed before." 

Suki didn't answer, but slouched down in her seat and scowled. When they began boarding the airplane, she was the first one on.

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Stephania was leaning against a wall in the Moscow International Airport, waiting for Suki and the others to arrive. She had been waiting for about an hour and they couldn't have been very far behind her, so their flight should be landing any minute. Once she herself had gotten off the airplane that she had stowed away on, she thought it better not to follow Voltaire and Kai; she knew where they were going anyway. Besides, they had a better chance of stopping Voltaire if they all worked together, and they couldn't do that if Stephania had followed them and gotten caught or something. _'Although,' _she thought smugly, _'I probably wouldn't get caught even if I threw myself in front of Voltaire himself.' _

Stephania mentally slapped herself. This was no time to get arrogant. Why, the next thing she knew, she'd be turning into Tyson. She shuddered at the thought. That would defiantly not be happening anytime soon.

Finally, a monitor on the wall said that the flight from Tokyo, Japan had gotten in. Stephania read the gate number on the screen and headed down the crowded halls of the airport.

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Voltaire was pacing his office impatiently. What was taking that damned scientist so long anyway? He should have been done with the tests by now. Voltaire scowled. He'd have to hire some new staff when this was all said and done. These employees were extremely slow.

Just then the door creaked open, and a scientist stood in the doorway.

"What has been taking so long! You should have been done hours ago!"

The scientist winced. "I'm sorry, sir, but the tests you ordered were quite complicated. Plus, the boy put up a bit of a struggle."

"Do I look like I care! Just show me the results!"

"But sir, you just asked me what was taking so lo—

"THE RESULTS NOW!"

The scientist winced again. It would probably be better for his health if he just did what he asked.

"Alright then. It's very odd. We didn't find anything unusual about the boy at all, besides the effects of that device you just made. He seems to be perfectly normal."

"Then how did he get those powers! The ones that he used in Siberia!"

"Well," began the scientist again, "we decided to run some tests on his bitbeast, Dranzer." He paused to look at his notes. "Apparently, the phoenix possesses some attributes that can cause physical and mental strengths in its wielder. We suspect that the bitbeast can trigger incredible healing powers, telepathic abilities, and endurance that most humans do not possess. I believe that the reason these powers emerged in you grandson at all and at such a young age was because of the extensive training he had here at the Abbey."

Voltaire looked slightly shocked and a little confused. "So you're saying that those powers he had had nothing to do with genetics, but that phoenix he has? But what about the other Hiwataris? They all possessed the same abilities."

"Did you not say that that phoenix bitbeast had been passed down through your family for generations?"

Voltaire's mind began to churn. Of course. It was that bitbeast all along. That's what had caused the Hiwatari family to be so powerful. Dranzer was the key. What was that other phoenix bitbeast that his daughter was so fond of? Oh yes. Anstance. He'd need to find that bitbeast too.

Another thought came to mind. Voltaire didn't need Kai. He had never needed him. All he needed was those bitbeasts, and then he would no longer need him or his sister. This was perfect. He could just kill those two and no one would be able to stop him. And evil grin spread across his face.

"Thank you. You may leave now." The scientist nodded and scurried out of the room. Voltaire picked up his phone.

"Yes, could you bring Kai in here for me? I wish to speak with him…Thank you." Voltaire hung up the phone and laughed. Soon he would have everything he had ever wanted.

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Suki and the boys walked off the 15 hour flight wanting nothing more than to collapse on the carpet and fall asleep. But they had work to do. Lots of work. And it wasn't going to get itself done. Stephania was waiting for them at their gate.

"You guys sure look happy," she commented. Her response was a chorus of groans.

They all flopped done on the hard chairs. Stephania placed herself next to Suki. "So, what's the plan?"

Suki looked over at her with groggy eyes. "Where are you getting all this energy?"

Stephania shrugged. "Obviously not at the same place you're getting yours. Now come on. We don't have much time."

Suki smoothed her dark hair back. "Well, we're going to need to go shopping."

Stephania nodded. "No problem."

With Stephania's direction (and speed), the gang found themselves at a local drug store within 20 minutes.

"What are you getting that for?" asked Tyson as Suki took a bottle of red hair dye off the shelf.

"I need a disguise, don't I?"

"You can't honestly think that dying your hair is going to get you into the Abbey, can you? Don't you think Voltaire keeps all the kids he keeps at the Abbey on file? He's going to recognize you," Rei pointed out.

"I'm buying colored contacts too!" Suki shot back.

"We're doomed," Max whispered to Kenny.

After they bought the hair dye and contacts, Suki dragged them all to a music store.

"Oh come on! Now we're buying music? How is any of this going to help us?" asked Tyson.

"You'll see," said Suki as she flipped through some CDs. Finally, she found one she wanted, and showed it to them.

"You're crazy, Suki," said Rei.

"Come on, you guys. Have a little faith. I'm sure all of this stuff has a very important purpose," said Stephania.

"Thank you, Steph. At least _someone_ believes in me."

"Can you blame us? Usually in movies and stuff they use guns and grappling hooks and black ski masks to break into places. Not hair dye and CDs."

"Well, this isn't the movies, is it?"

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Kai sat in a dark cell-again-with nothing to do but stare at the cement wall in front of him-again. He really was getting sick of this. Was he so weak that he couldn't even keep himself or others out of danger? He was tired of relying on his friends for help. It wasn't so long ago when he was able to take care of himself with no one's help.

"_Why do you insist on doing things alone when you don't have to?" _

Maybe it wasn't so bad having people to help you, though. Everything was always so much harder when he was alone. He'd never admit it aloud, but sometimes having friends was kind of reassuring. But he couldn't keep putting them in danger. It didn't matter what Stephania had said. They were all risking their lives by going through with this.

'_That's because they care about you,' _he told himself.

Well, that didn't matter anymore. He wasn't just going to sit in this god forsaken cell like some kind of damsel in distress waiting to be rescued. He'd get out of this place, find the others, and take down Voltaire once and for all. But he couldn't do that here.

Kai stood up and looked around. There was nothing but bars and stone. It was times like this when he wished that Dranzer was with him. Then he might be able to use these stupid powers that he only half-believed he had. Plus, just having the bitbeast around was always reassuring. But he didn't have Dranzer in Siberia, did he? And he was still able to do that crazy thing with the fire when Voltaire had come into his cell. Maybe he could do that now.

Then another thought hit him like a slap in the face. There was no way he could do any of that. If he even did one thing to disobey Voltaire, it could mean death for Rei. And there was no telling what would happen to the others, even if Voltaire hadn't rigged them with his mysterious little 'device'.

The squeaking of the cell door scattered Kai's thoughts. Standing in the doorway were two large men wearing the BioVolt insignia. At first glance they looked like nothing but ordinary cronies, but when Kai took a closer look, he could sense something oddly familiar about the two. He groaned as realization swept over him.

"I thought for sure you bastards were dead." It was those two deadweights from the island that had taken so much pleasure in "punishing" him, as Voltaire called it.

The man on the left smiled. "You shouldn't have taken us so lightly. We're smarter than we look you know."

"Yeah," said the one on the right. "We knew about Voltaire's emergency plan to blow up the island the whole time. Pretty clever, eh?"

"I guess, if you call running for your lives clever. Even a bug has enough brain power for that."

One man scowled and the other cracked his knuckles at the comment. "We don't have to take this from you. We're under special orders to bring you to Voltaire for a little chat."

The two men scooped Kai up by his arms like he was nothing and dragged him out of the cell. Kai couldn't even fight back against the morons, knowing it could mean life or death for his friends.

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Voltaire was sitting behind his desk (per usual), grinning like a Cheshire cat when Kai and the cronies finally made it to his office. After the two had ungraciously dropped Kai on the carpet and left, Voltaire stood up.

"So Kai, how does it feel to have been outwitted once again by me?"

Kai rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the floor. "It feels absolutely great, you'll be happy to know."

Voltaire circled him like a hawk. "You should consider yourself honored to have been bested by a genius such as myself."

"You're not at all full of yourself, are you?"

"Of course not. Now, I could stay here at chat with you all day about this, believe me, but there are more important matters that need to be discussed."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Like, for instance, the test results that my head scientist brought to me this morning."

"Do tell."

"Well, shockingly, the tests that we performed on you came out perfectly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. But, the tests that we did on you're bitbeast came out quite different."

Kai scowled. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing that harmed your precious Dranzer. But tests had some interesting results. Apparently, your bitbeast has the power to bring out amazing abilities in its wielder. Abilities that I'm sure you're very aware of."

Even Kai was slightly shocked by this news. Like Voltaire, he had always thought that his abilities were genetic, and that's why Stephania had them as well.

Voltaire grinned. "This surprises you?"

Kai swallowed. "Why only our family, then? What about others who possess bitbeasts?"

"I was hoping you would ask that. It seems that the phoenix bitbeasts are slightly different than others. Every person who wields a bitbeast has the potential to have these special abilities, but those who possess phoenix bitbeasts are twice as likely to have them. As these phoenixes have been passed down through are family, every new wielder was subjected to this. There is also the possibility that you're extensive training here helped bring out these powers as well."

"So…it was my bitbeast all along?"

"That's right. But apparently you don't have to have the bitbeast with you at all times to use these powers. That scientist said something about that. Some drabble about because you and your bitbeast have been together for so long that you have some kind of 'connection'. One that can only be broken one way."

Kai was afraid he knew why but still asked, "And what was would that be?"

Voltaire walked right up to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Why, by killing you, of course."

Kai's eyes widened considerably and his breath caught in his throat. He had never been afraid of death before, but the prospects of what would happen if he were to die were frightening. If he died and his friends didn't know, they would come storming into the abbey looking for nothing and Voltaire would most likely kill them. On top of that, there would be no one to stop him from using Dranzer's powers for world domination. The planet could be thrown into complete chaos.

Voltaire's smug grin grew even bigger. "I think I'll let you sit and think about that for a couple of hours." He pushed a button on his desk and the two cronies came back in. This time when they grabbed him, Kai fought back furiously.

"You can't do this!" he shouted angrily. "You can't!"

"You know what? I really think I can."

With that, he closed the door of his office and let Kai be dragged back to his cell, still struggling effortlessly against his impending doom.

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Well well well. Looks like there's more fun in store for Kai. Also, I realize that this chapter isn't very long. Would I have liked it to be longer? Of course. Do I have the energy to make it longer? Hell no! Sorry guys.


	24. Hair Dye

**Sorry I wasn't able to answer any of your reviews right now, but the site is all screwed up and won't let me into my stats.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Beyblade.

**Quote of the update: **Those whom we love never truly leave us. They are always with us in our hearts and our soul and our mind.—Unknown

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Suki leaned against the bathroom sink, staring long and hard at the reflection in the mirror. She took a lock of her raven hair and held it before her face. For a brief second she looked as though she were about to cry.

Stephania's face appeared in the mirror next to Suki's. "Are you ready?"

Suki sighed heavily. "Ohhhhh…." she groaned, running her hands through her hair. "Whose bright idea was this anyway?"

"Yours," replied Stephania simply as she placed the bottle of red hair dye on the sink. Then she took up a pair of scissors. "Would you like a final moment with your precious hair before I chop it off?"

Suki glared at Stephania's reflection, then took her long black locks in both hands. She let out a mock sniffle. "Sorry hair…"

Stephania waited a moment. "Are you ready _now_?"

"Just get on with it before I change my mind." Stephania obliged and took Suki's hair in her hands. Then, very carefully, she began snipping the dark tresses near Suki's chin. Suki moaned as her hair fell to the bathroom tiles.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. It'll grow back. It's not like I'm cutting your arms off." For twenty minutes Stephania snipped away her friend's hair, knowing that if she made one slip Suki would have her head. Finally, she was done, and Suki's once near-waist length hair was cropped just below her chin.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked, putting down the scissors. Suki ruffled it a bit, then sighed.

"I guess it's not so bad. Besides, it will be all worth it once we get Kai out of that stinking place and take down Voltaire."

"Exactly, now wrap this towel around you if you want to keep those cloths." Suki took the white towel from Stephania's hand and wrapped it around herself, securing it in the front with a hair clip. Stephania began mixing the hair bleach in a plastic bowl with a small brush.

"Now you're sure about this? Once I dye it there's no going back."

Suki nodded. "We've already cut it. Might as well dye it too."

Stephania gathered some of the bleach on the brush and applied it to Suki's hair. "This may sting a little…" And it did. A LOT. Suki gripped the edge of the sink as the bleach burned her scalp. "Are you done yet?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Almost….Ok, done." Suki leaned back over the sink and let Stephania wash the burning gook out of her hair with refreshing, ice cold water. Suki's muscles relaxed greatly as the cool water soothed her burning scalp. When Stephania was finished, Suki's hair was pure blonde.

Stephania took up the red hair dye and began applying it with the brush, the same way that she did with the bleach. Only this time it didn't sting. She washed Suki's hair a final time, then blow-dried it.

"Say hello to the new you."

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Outside the bathroom, the boys were pacing impatiently.

"What is taking so long!" asked Tyson loudly. "How long can it possibly take to cut and dye someone's hair?"

"Well if you do it the right way, about two hours." They turned their heads to Max.

"And just how do you know this?" asked Rei suspiciously. Max held his hands up in defense.

"Woah, hold on! It's not what you guys think! It's just that my mom makes me come with her every time she gets her hair colored, that's all, I swear."

They continued to eye him. "It's true!"

Before the discussion could continue, the bathroom door opened, and out came a very red-haired Suki, followed by Stephania. The boys stared.

"Wow, it's so short."

"I know," said Suki weakly.

"And red."

"I _know_."

"Do you know how long it's gonna take to grow all that back?"

"Guys! Not helping!"

"Sorry…" they muttered.

"Ok," began Suki, sitting down in the living space of their hotel room. "We really need to map out this whole 'Operation: Save the World' thing."

The others nodded, sitting down as well. "Well…" started Rei. "We're gonna need some kind of alibi for you when we decide to break into the abbey. I mean, you can't just go waltzing in there with no explanation."

"Hmm, good point. I had totally forgotten about that. Any ideas?"

And that's how they spent the rest of the day, planning and mapping and throwing ideas around the room. By nightfall, their entire plan was complete. After they were finished, Suki gazed out the window and into the night, the moonlight reflecting off her now red hair.

'_You'd better get ready Voltaire, 'cause we're coming…'_

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Kai struggled furiously with the two sets of strong arms that were dragging him farther and farther away from Voltaire's office. He couldn't let him get away with this. There had to be someway he could escape. Someway…

But he knew there was no way he could escape. Not now, at least. Even if he did run, there was no where he could hide, not anywhere in the world. Unless Voltaire was killed or whatever it was that he used to control his stupid 'device' was destroyed, there was no way out. If Voltaire chose, he could make him drop dead right now, without even touching him.

Kai's struggles lessened for a split second as the hopeless thoughts ran through his head. The sight of his cell, however, gave him new resolve to continue the fight. He twisted to the side and kneed one of his captors hard in the stomach. The man fell to his knees, winded, and his hold loosened on Kai's arm. Kai jerked it away and punched the other man hard in the nose. He let out a yelp of surprise and blood began flowing freely from his nose, but his grip on the teen didn't falter. Kai attempted a different approach. He used his right leg to slam foot down hard on the man's toes, and used his left to knee the man in the stomach as he had done with the other one. The man immediately let go of Kai's arm and slid to the floor.

Kai jumped over the two figures lying huddled on the ground and began running in no particular direction. He knew it was futile, especially if Voltaire found out, but he couldn't let them lock him up again. As long as he was free, he still had a fighting chance.

This freedom was short-lived, however. Kai felt a huge weight tackle him from behind, and knew instantly that one of the morons had somehow hauled his carcass off the floor to come after him. As soon as Kai hit the floor, the man who had tackled him dug his knee forcefully into the middle of his back. Kai hissed in pain.

The man knelt down by his ear and said in a dangerous low tone, "I wouldn't try a stunt like that again, unless you want me to break your spine." He dug his knee harder into Kai's back for emphasis. "You understand me?"

Kai didn't answer. The man grew impatient and snarled, "I asked you a question, punk. _Do you understand me!" _The man continued to dig his knee into his, causing him to gasp in pain. It suddenly occurred to him that this man probably did have the strength to do what he had threatened. However, Kai's pride and stubbornness got in the way of his reason and he twisted himself as hard as he could to get himself on his back. This took the man for surprise and didn't give him time to react. When Kai finally did get on his back, he kicked the man in a certain place _hard, _sending him gasping to the floor.

What he failed to remember, however, was the other man that had been with them. By the time he realized his mistake, there was already a needle in the back of his neck. Kai figured it was just a sedative (something his body had no problem handling), and continued running in the direction he had been heading before he had been tackled. It didn't take him long to realize that the needle had obviously not been filled with sedative, but something such stronger.

Before Kai knew it, he was on his knees, struggling to keep his eyes open. As soon as the two morons behind him felt it was safe, they hauled him off the floor and headed back in the direction of his familiar cell.

'_God damned stupid son of a bitch— _

Kai's inner cursing was cut short when his body impacted with hard stone. It didn't hurt much, he realized. Probably because getting thrown into hard things was a daily occurrence in his life. Or maybe whatever those bastards had given him was numbing the pain. He figured they'd probably injected him with gorilla tranquillizer. It wouldn't be the first time.

That was the last coherent thought he could remember before slipping into darkness.

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'_I feel like such an idiot.' _

Suki stood outside the Abbey's front entrance in a white t-shirt and overalls. Jammed in her pockets were various tools, which not only helped her disguise, but would also be useful later on. A small microphone was placed inside her ear so she could stay in contact with the others.

"Guys, I feel like I'm in a really bad late-night action flick."

"Suki, can't you just deal for a couple hours? We really need to get this plan in motion," said Kenny's exasperated voice in her ear.

Suki groaned. "Whose idea was this anyway?"

"Yours," came the unanimous reply. She gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"If someone doesn't do it while we're here, remind me to shoot myself after this is over."

"Just hit the button, Suki."

Suki complied and hit a small button on the wall. A loud buzzing noise came through the speaker, followed by a voice. "Yes?" the voice asked.

"Yeah, um, I was informed that you had a technical problem in this building, correct?"

The voice paused for a moment. "Uh…no. I don't believe so."

"Well, I got a call that you needed help rewiring some things."

"I think you have the wrong location."

"You know, I don't think I do. This is Balkov Abbey, The Red Square, Moscow, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but—

"And your current phone number is 581-924-0786, isn't it?"

"It is, but—

"So, if you didn't call me, than why do I have your phone number and your listing with me, saying that you did?"

"I don't know, but we did not call you, so you're not coming in."

Suki faked a sigh. "Sir, my company does not appreciate prank phone calls."

"We did not prank call you because we did not call you at all!"

Through her ear piece, it sounded like the others were trying very hard not to laugh…And failing miserably. "Do you realize that because of your childish antics, I'm wasting my valuable time and money out here?"

"Ma'am, would you please—

"Do you also realize that prank calling is a misdemeanor and could land you with some serious community service?"

"WE DID NOT PRANK CALL YOU!"

Suki had to stifle back a laugh. "Sir, there is no need to loose your temper with me. After all, I'm the one wasting time here because you pran—

"Don't say it!"

"Don't say what?"

"Just don't say anything."

"Sir, I don't think I unders—

"If I let you in to look at things will you promise to never come back here again?"

"Not if you don't prank call me again."

"….."

"Sir?"

A quiet, anger-laced voice came through the speaker again. "Just get in here so we can get this over with."

Suki scoffed. "Whatever, Mr. Grumpy Pants." There was no reply, just the sound of the front door opening. She walked it happily, trying her best to hide the wide smile on her face.

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Back outside the gates in a rented van, Tyson, Rei, Max, Kenny, and Stephania watched Suki go through the huge doors and into Balkov Abbey. As soon as she was inside and the doors were closed, they burst out into a fit of laughter.

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Kai could feel the warm embrace of unconsciousness slowly leaving him. Groggy images circled through his head, images he thought might have happened, but couldn't be sure if they were real or just a dream. A large building on a secluded island, a vast white tundra, a dark, foreboding stadium…Wait….Stadium?

Kai desperately tried to hold onto that thought, but it was slipping from him mind like water in cupped hands. Stadium…Beyblading….Bladebreakers? Something about Bladebreakers? Hold on, the Bladebreakers were his team, his friends…Friends…Rei…Voltaire…Device…Bitbeast…

Suddenly, the memories hit him like a fist in his face. His friends were in danger. Voltaire was going to kill them; he was going to kill him. He was going to try and take over the world again.

Kai's eyes flew open and he shot straight up, but regretted doing so when a sharp pain seared through his head, forcing him down on the ground again. He had tried to get away; he'd tried to escape so he could warn his friends. They were going to try and rescue him, Stephania had told him so on the way to Moscow. If they got could trying to free him, Voltaire would kill them on the spot.

Wait, he had tried to escape? How was that going to help anything! If Voltaire found out he was gone, he could kill Rei with the push of a button. Kai looked around him. It didn't look like he hadn't succeeded. But what if those to morons that had stopped him told Voltaire about his attempted escape? He'd still have cause to kill one of him friends.

But hadn't that been the reason why he'd been trying to escape in the first place? He'd tried to get free so he could destroy whatever was controlling that device. That way, he'd be able to try and make contact with his friends to tell them to stay away without putting them in immediate danger trying to do so.

Kai's head suddenly started to throb again. This was a lot of information to have come rushing back all of a sudden. What the hell had they given him to make his thoughts so jumbled?

Another memory came back to him. Right before he fell unconscious, he'd thought that maybe they'd injected him with gorilla tranquillizer. They probably had. That would explain the memory loss.

Again, another pain shot threw his head, as if his brain was trying to tell him to cool off on the thinking for a while. Kai was only too happy to oblige.

Kai's eyes snapped to the right suddenly when he heard the sound of footsteps and muffled voices. He vaguely hoped it wasn't Voltaire coming to finish him off. To his relief, two guards came into view instead of his deranged grandfather. They were talking about something. Kai decided it might be important to listen.

"So why's he got a stick up his ass all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, says some girl came here earlier saying that she was from some electric company, then accusing him off prank calling her or something like that when he told her that no one called her."

"That all?"

"I guess. He sounded really pissed off though. And he made her out to sound pretty annoying. Says that he let her come in to look at things just to get her to shut up."

"What's she look like?"

"Well, I didn't get a great look at her when I saw her, but she looked to be about seventeen, kinda short, with red hair. But to me it looked like she'd bottle dyed it, like it used to be black or something."

After that Kai didn't care to listen. He knew who the girl they were talking about was. There was only one person that could manipulate these guys into doing whatever she wanted, just one.

Kai groaned in frustration. _'Damnit all, Suki!' _

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Suki stared at the back of the man leading her to the control room of the abbey as they walked down the long and twisting halls. She'd figured the guy who had let her in had had his fill of her before, so they'd saddled her with this guy instead. They had been walking for about ten minutes, which annoyed her to no end as time was of the essence. Just as her patience was about to evaporate altogether, they stopped in front of a large grey door.

"Here we are," he said, unlocking the door for her. Suki stepped cautiously into the large room, the man behind her falling suit. That caused her to stop and spin around to face him.

"What are you doing?"

The man laughed softly. "What? Did you think I was going to let you wander into the center of every power source in this building alone? I'm coming in to supervise you."

"Uh, no you're not."

"What do you—?

The man's reply was stopped short when Suki jabbed two fingers into a nerve cluster on the back of his neck. He was immediately unconscious.

Suki blew on her fingers as one would a smoking gun. "Got to love those self defense classes."

A voice that sounded a lot like Kenny's suddenly buzzed in her ear, "That's all fine and well, Suki, but we are on a tight schedule here! Get moving! And get rid of the body while you're at it."

"Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh." Suki took a hold of the man by his arms and began dragging him into the control room with her.

"Move faster!"

A murderous look crossed Suki's face. "Ok, you know what? This guy is heavy, and I'm not exactly a body builder. Don't complain until you've dragged a full grown man across a floor."

After a few more tugs, she managed to get the man in the room without attracting any attention. Of course, she'd have to make sure she wiped her little stunt from the cameras that littered the ceilings. Finally, she shut the door, locked it, and turned around to begin her dangerous work.

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**You all may be wondering why I'm putting the A/N at the bottom of the chapter instead of the top. It's because I really want everyone to read it. Today I discovered that Steve Irwin, age 44, had died. He left behind a wife and two children. **

**What really touched me on a personal level about this is that my dad died early last February, and I miss him more than anything in the world. All I could think about when I heard the news was, "He had two kids. Two kids just lost their dad. Just like I did." **

**I know exactly what these children are going through, and it's something that no one should have to experience at such a young age. It's the most painful thing you could ever imagine, and it was my worst nightmare come true. **

**This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, and also to his family. I hope that someday you will find a way to ease the pain, as I am still searching for a way myself.**


	25. Wrong Button

**Disclaimer: **Don't own nothin that ain't mine

**Quote of the Update: **When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, "Why God? Why me?" and the thundering voice of God answered, "There's just something about you that pisses me off."—Stephan King

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Tala strode hurriedly through the endless halls of the Abbey, his footsteps echoing off the hard stone walls and through the long corridors. He winced slightly as one off his healing wounds irritated him from his fast movements. He vaguely remembered how he had gotten them, after he had tried to warn Kai of Voltaire's plans. But he'd gotten his stupid ass caught, and now Kai was paying the price. Although, Voltaire had made sure he got his fair share of payment from Tala as well. Lucky for him, he was drugged pretty much the whole time and didn't remember half of what had happened.

Tala quickly shook the thoughts out of his head, focusing on the task at hand. If he didn't get to Kai in time, Voltaire would kill him. Then the bond to Dranzer would be broken. If that happened, the bitbeast's power would fall mercilessly into Voltaire's hands. And if that happened, the world would be in mortal danger.

And Kai's little friends were probably already 'storming the castle' right now. Idiots. The only thing they would accomplish from that would be getting themselves killed. And Kai didn't need anymore deaths hanging over his head. Tala could use a few less himself.

As Tala turned the corner, something caught his eye. A set of feet were being dragged into the main control booth. _'What the hell?'_ Tala ran over to the door, hoping to catch the person who was doing the dragging before they shut the door. He was unsuccessful. The door slammed shut and a light 'click' followed, signaling that the door had been locked.

'_Damnit!' _

Tala stared at the door in frustration. Could he really spare any of his time to wait for this guy to come out? Hell no. He'd just have to break the door down. He cracked his knuckles and got to work on the hinges.

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Suki walked over to the control panel. This was going to be harder than she had originally thought. There were so many little buttons. Why did there have to be so many buttons?

"Kenny, do you have any advice for me?"

"Well, the security system on this place is pretty tight. Even Dizzi couldn't get into it. You're on your own. I've got no idea how this thing works."

Suki groaned. This was going to give her a major headache. "Alright, I'll give it a try."

She began studying the monitors on the wall. They were security monitors, probably hooked up to all the cameras in this place. That was a start. If she found a way to disable the cameras using this thing, maybe every monitor in the Abbey would stop working, making it easier for her to search this place without getting caught, not to mention the others that were waiting outside.

After studying the many cables that ran under the booth, Suki began to get frustrated. _'Ah, screw it. I'll just start unplugging things until what I want turns off.'_ Suki tried one of the red wires, pulling it out of its circuit. A droning sound emitted from the control panel, then everything went dark.

'_Ah fuck.' _

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Tala was working on getting the door hinges loose when suddenly every light in the building went off.

'_The hell?' _

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Outside, five teenagers watched from outside the Abbey's gates as all the lights in the buildings went out. One of the teens who was holding a small laptop turned his head toward the others.

"I guess she pushed the wrong button."

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Kai stared up at the ceiling. The lights were beginning to dim slightly. Then darkness engulfed the entire area. He could hear the two men outside cursing and feeling around the halls while trying to get their bearings, only to run into something and curse more.

Kai didn't pay them much mind. This could be the break he needed. With the lights off, no one would see him escape. But wait. How was he supposed to get out of a locked cell? He found himself longing for Dranzer. If he had his bitbeast, at least he'd be able to do something.

A loud yell nearby followed by some colorful language suddenly made it's was to his ears, breaking his train of thought. Kai smiled. One of the dumbasses outside had run right into his cell's bars.

He could hear the man's footsteps as he stumbled back away from the mental wall, accompanied with the sound of something striking the floor. Something that largely reminded him of the sound of keys jangling.

Kai had to stop himself for a moment. This was all too perfect. The idiot had dropped the keys right outside his cell door. And if the lights were off, the men outside wouldn't see him take the keys, open the door, and escape. It seemed that luck was finally on his side.

Kai began to crawl quietly forward towards the cell door, one hand outstretched to feel in front of him. When his hand finally hit one of the cold metal bars, he reached his arm through the gap and began feeling around on the floor outside for the keys. After several seconds of searching, his hand made contact with one of the smooth grooves of a key. He closed his hand around it and pulled it back inside. After searching a few more seconds for the key hole, he began trying out each of the keys. After trying a few, he finally came across the right one. The lock on the door clicked open.

Very carefully, Kai pushed the door open just enough for him to squeeze through, careful not to make any noise. From this point he knew it was going to be much harder, since he couldn't see where he was going. Kai chose to go down the hall on his right because the two idiots that had been outside his cell were still stumbling around in the dark closer to the hall on his left.

Kai put a hand on one side of the wall and began walking slowly and carefully down the long dark corridor.

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'_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' _

Suki fumbled around with the wires under the control panel, desperately trying to find the circuit she had pulled the lighting wire from. More than once she knocked her head on the underside of the booth.

"This is just great! The first wire I pull out, and it's connected to every damn light switch in this bloody place!"

Finally her hand grazed across an empty circuit. Suki sighed in relief. She then placed the wire in her hand back into the tiny hole. All the lights flickered back to life.

"Thank God." _'If I can't do anything right the first try, at least I'm not so stupid that I can't fix my own mistakes.' _

Suki's head whipped around to the door as she heard a large 'clank'. The hinges on the door shifted, and it fell over with a crash. She jumped slightly when the large door hit the ground, and looked down at the fallen slab of wood. When she looked back up, Tala stood in the doorway with a murderous look in his eyes. That look faded into confusion when his gaze fell on Suki knelling on the floor in overalls.

Tala looked from her, to the man on the floor, back to her again before he found his voice. "Suki! What are you doing!"

Suki stood up and dusted off her jean clad legs. "Umm, saving the world?"

Tala crossed his arms over his chest and walked over to the panel. "You were the one who cut the power, weren't you?"

"It was a total accident! I was looking for the wire that disconnected the cameras and kinda hit a snag."

"Obviously. Do you need some help?'

"Yes please."

Tala studied the panel for a moment, then knelt down to look under it. After a few seconds, he selected a yellow wire and pulled it out. The monitors on the wall instantly cut off.

"How did you know which one to pull out?"

Tala stood up from his position on the floor. "I've been here a long time. Anything else you need?"

It was then that the man on the floor began to stir. Suki tilted her head his direction. Tala sighed, then walked over to the semi-conscious man and punched him square in the face. The man fell back into a deep sleep.

"Thank you. I'll just be going now." Suki began walking over the fallen door to exit the control room when Tala grabbed her arm.

"Do you remember at all how to find your way around this place?"

Suki didn't have to think long. "Good point. I guess I could use a little more help."

"I don't know how you thought you could conduct a rescue operation when you don't even know you're way around the building you're breaking into."

"I couldn't find the layout ok? This isn't the easiest system to hack."

"Whatever, let's just go."

Suki nodded, and together they began their journey into the long maze of halls.

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Kai paused for a moment when the lights came back on and the hall he was walking down became visible again.

'_That was weird.'_

Without anymore thought to the strangeness of the situation, Kai broke out in a run. It wouldn't help him to have somebody catch him now that the lights were back on. As he was running, Kai thought of all the places Voltaire would keep that control he used for the weird device he had put in Rei and himself. His first thought was that he probably kept it on him at all times, which made things difficult.

Kai sighed. Things would be so much less complicated if he had Dranzer….

That's when it hit him. Dranzer was the solution. If he could find his bitbeast, he could take down Voltaire and destroy that stupid control. But he had to hurry. Voltaire could finish him off at anytime. And there was the issue of the others. If they were going to attempt a jailbreak as they said they were, they could be putting themselves in mortal danger.

Kai let his thoughts wander for a moment. It was kind of nice knowing that you had someone out there willing to risk their life for you. Kai hadn't known that feeling for a long time. For years, his grandfather had treated him like he was nothing and had told him that he was just that. Nothing. Nothing but a tool spawned to do his bidding. He'd beat it into his skull. Then he had met the Bladebreakers, and they had treated him like he was something. Well, in truth they had treated him like the mysterious, sourpuss captain that he was, but at least it was something. And over time, they had begun to treat him as one of their own, a friend. But even though they had told him countless times to accept help because they were, in fact, his friends and that's what friends were supposed to do, it wasn't worth it to risk their lives. Especially for someone like him.

Kai shook the thoughts out of his head. He had a job to do, and getting all emotional wasn't going to get that job done. He needed to find Dranzer. Kai figured he'd be in a lab somewhere where a bunch of scientists would be trying to unlock the secrets of his immense power. How cliché. Besides, they weren't going to get much out of his beyblade. Kai knew for a fact that you couldn't get a drop of Dranzer's power out of him unless you were his host blader. And he didn't just pick anyone. Despite what Voltaire had said to him before, about not needed him alive to obtain Dranzer's power, Kai seriously doubted that such a strong bitbeast would give up its power to anyone who held it in their hand. But that wouldn't stop his grandfather from killing him.

Kai brought his mind back to finding Dranzer. With all the labs in the Abbey, Kai would be lucky to find the right one before Voltaire finished him off. Well, it wouldn't hurt to start looking now.

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Voltaire paced his study anxiously. He needed to know now. The scientists had told him that the power that Kai possessed did not come directly from him, but from Dranzer, but hey had not told him for sure if they could harness the bitbeast's power without Kai. Quite honestly, Voltaire was getting sick of the boy. It got tiring chasing down an angst-ridden teenager who was twice as strong as you were. It would be some much easier just to kill him off and still be able to have the power that he had obtained through his bitbeast. Only in a perfect world.

Voltaire became more anxious. If it turned out that he did in fact need Kai to harness Dranzer's power, all his plans could be ruined. Of course, he could always hold his friends against him. Hell, he even had one of his friend's lives in his control. But that would only take him so far. Kai's friends weren't as dumb as they looked. Well, half of them, at any rate. They'd find a way, sooner or later, to overpower him. His plan would only work smoothly if Kai was taken out of the picture.

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," he said gruffly.

A lone scientist walked into the study. "Sir, we have the 2nd test results you requested."

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Suki and Tala strode quickly down a narrow hallway. Tala had made it clear that it was imperative to find Kai as soon as possible. If they didn't reach him fast enough, Voltaire might kill him.

Suki spoke suddenly, her voice transmitting through a microphone she hid in her front pocket and outside to the others. "Ok you guys, the cameras are off so it should be safe to come in now. Just watch out for all the BioVolt stooges that are crawling around in this place."

A loud, annoying voice answered, "Ah, don't worry about us, Suki. I'll protect everyone, no problem. Me and Dragoon can do anything!"

"Tyson, give me that back!"

"Hey! Wha—

A muffled sound emitted through the speakers, then Kenny's voice came through. "Sorry about that."

"Whatever, at least he's enthusiastic. Just hurry up and get in here. I could use the help."

"We'll be in as soon as we can."

Suki reached down into her pocket and turned off her microphone. "Well, maybe now that the cavalry's on its way things will get a little easier."

"Easy? Those guys? Whatever you say."

Suki smiled. "I have faith in them…Half of them, anyway."

"Exactly. Let's just hope they don't get themselves caught."

"We'll see."

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Kai was getting frustrated. Extremely frustrated. Trying to find anything in the Abbey was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Nearly impossible. So far he'd run into nothing but dead ends. At least he hadn't had to drop kick any loose-lipped scientists who might squeal to Voltaire on him yet.

He walked over to another laboratory door and tried one of the keys that he had taken when the lights had cut off on the lock. Once he got the door unlocked, he opened it to find…Nothing. Nada. Zippola. Just like every other damn door he'd opened today. Kai bit back a growl of frustration. The only thing he'd manage to accomplish so far was learning what doors not to go into. He figured that's how it'd probably be for the rest of the time he searched. Narrowing the field. He moved on.

It was just then that two armed men turned into the hallway he was standing in. _'Shit.' _

One man looked up at him and pointed. "Hey!" he called out.

Kai didn't waste anytime. He made a full 180 and began sprinting down the hall in the opposite direction. He could hear footsteps behind him as the men began their chase. Kai turned sharply and began running down another of the endless halls with no warning, hoping to throw the men off. It didn't work. Apparently these were smarter than the rest.

The two men followed him step for step, and he could just hear them begin to load their guns as they ran. Kai couldn't risk these men killing him, and he couldn't risk them telling Voltaire that he had escaped either. He'd have to stop them here and now.

Kai skidded to a halt and turned around to face the two men. They were, indeed, loading their guns. When they saw him stop they skidded to a stop as well.

"Just come with us easy, kid, and there won't be any problems," one of them said.

He smirked. "You're right. There won't be." His foot lashed out suddenly and caught one of the men in the stomach, flying into the wall. Then he turned his attention to the other man. Kai thrust his hand upwards, breaking the man's nose. He fell to the floor in a heap, clutching his face. Kai raised a fist to knock the man unconscious when he felt a white hot pain rip through his right shoulder. It didn't take him long to figure out that he had been shot. Kai clutched his shoulder with his left hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding, leaning against the wall.

The man who had shot him and the man with the broken nose approached him, satisfied looks on their faces. But Kai wasn't about to let them take him back to a cell to die. He clenched his bloodied left hand into a fist and hit both men hard in the stomachs. They fell to the ground unconscious.

Kai groaned. Now he'd have to drag their asses somewhere where no one would find them. He took the ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked a nearby utility closet. Then he proceeded to haul both men into the closet together. Because both men were twice as big as he was, he had to use both arms, which only served to aggravate his wound further. He winced painfully as the hole in his shoulder tore open more from the strain. Once he finally got both men into the closet. He locked the door behind him and fell to his knees.

Kai could tell that the bullet had gone straight through, so he wouldn't have to worry about getting it out of the wound. But it was bleeding badly, and he couldn't afford to die of blood loss right now.

Kai struggled to his feet, taking a moment to regain his bearings, and then set off again. He needed to find Dranzer now, or he might never get a chance to again.

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Tala stopped dead in the middle of the corridor. Suki looked at him, confused.

"Tala, what—mmm!" She looked down to see a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Shhhh." Tala paused for a moment. "Do you hear that?" he asked, removing his hand.

"Hear what?"

"Footsteps."

Suki strained her years. She could just make out the sound of faint footsteps making their way towards them.

"Yeah…" The footsteps were getting louder.

"Get ready," instructed Tala, tensing up a bit. Suki nodded. She tensed up as well when the person barely started to round the corner, getting ready to pounce on them if need be. When the mysterious being finally made into the hall they were occupying, it came as a huge shock to the two teens. The person was not who they expected it to be.

"Wha…"

"Kai!"

Kai looked up at the two familiar faces from across the hallway. They could just make out hints of relief on his face. They both noticed, to their dismay, that his shirt was soaked in blood.

"Suki…Tala…" Kai didn't get anymore words out before he pitched forward, his exhausted body not being able to take the stains of consciousness any longer. Seeing this, Tala rushed forward and caught him before he hit the ground. Suki followed after him.

"Oh God…" she said worriedly. "Tala what do we do?"

Tala stared down at Kai's unconscious form in silence. "….I don't know…."

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Yeah yeah, I know. It wasn't terribly long. My chapters never are. I would have made it longer, but I was really losing steam there at the end. I'm lucky I got this done though. I didn't think I'd be posting this chapter for another month. Life's been hectic, you know? If any of you've read my homepage, which is just my livejournal, you know that I've been having some family problems lately. But they're all over and done with, so I'm pretty happy right now.

Also, I know that I left off on a bad note with you guys in the previous chapter, just because I was kind of depressed about the whole Steve Irwin thing. It just made me really miss my dad. Anyway, thank you guys for all your support. It means a lot.

And I have some good news for this chapter. I'll be leaving on a happier note! Do you know why? Because I'm an aunt! Yay! You may call me Auntie Rei. My brother's girlfriend had a baby after I updated the last chapter, so that was really exciting for me. Her name is Madix, and she is the cutest thing ever! Ok, I know what you guys are thinking. I made the name Madix up, right? Wrong. I couldn't believe it either. But whatever. It's my brother's kid, not mine. He can name her whatever he wants. I didn't like the name at first, but it's starting to grow on me. Plus, we call her Maddy most of the time, which I think is a cute nickname.

Anyway, I'm rambling, and am going to stop now before I wear myself out. Have a happy day!


	26. Planning an Escape

**This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of Emily Louise. Friends forever. No matter what.**

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it.

**Quote of the Update: **What is a friend? I will tell you it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.—Frank Crane

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"Suki? Suki, answer me…."

"What's going on?" Kenny turned towards Rei's voice. Every member of their small group was looking at him with worried filled eyes.

"I'm not sure. I tried calling her to tell her we were coming inside, but she's not answering me."

"You think something's happened to her?" asked Max.

"I don't know. We should hurry, though. She might be in trouble. Does everyone remember what they're supposed to do?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, let's go."

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Suki was finding it hard to think. Kai's shirt was soaked in blood, and it was starting to stain Tala's clothes as well. Suki had seen people hurt plenty of times. She herself had gotten her fair share of injuries. But no matter how many times it was presented to her, she could never get rid of the sick, shaky feeling she got when it happened.

She was faintly aware of the sound emitting from the radio on her hip. To preoccupied with her current situation, however, the sound was lost to her. Until Tala snapped her out of her daze with his colorful language.

"Jesus Christ, Suki, just answer the damn thing. It's giving me a headache."

Suki numbly unhitched the radio and answered in a small voice, "I'm here," into the speaker.

A voice from the other end replied, "Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, just get in here, quick. We're gonna need some help."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Just hurry, please?"

There was a slight pause. "….Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can."

Suki turned off her radio and placed it back into her pocket. She heard the shuffling of clothing and looked over to Tala. He had placed Kai's still form onto the floor and was standing over her.

"I'd better go help them. They always get into trouble at the most inconvenient times."

Suki looked up at him with wide eyes. "W-wait. You can't leave me here alone. What am I supposed to do about Kai?"

Tala sighed. "You can start by trying to staunch the blood flow from his wound. I'd rather not have him bleed to death."

He began turning to walk away when Suki, still kneeling on the floor, grabbed a hold of his plant leg. He stopped and looked down at her, slightly annoyed.

"Please, Tala, can't you do it? I mean, I could go help them. Don't make me do this by myself."

"Suki, please get a hold of yourself, for Christ's sake."

"You know I'm not good with blood. You know that. The last time something like this happened I threw up. Please, Tala?"

Tala stooped down and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Suki, calm down. You don't know your way around the abbey anymore. I do. Please, just suck it up for half a second, take a deep breath, and do this for me. If not for me, then for him" He nodded to Kai. "You can do this. It's just blood. Everyone has it. Even you."

Suki rolled her eyes, then took a deep breath to calm herself. "Alright, but only because I love you so much," she kidded.

"Psh." Tala stood up straight. "I'm gonna go now, ok? You'll be fine."

"Ok."

"Ok." Tala gave Kai one last look, then turned to go find Tyson and the others. "сумасшедшая девочка.(Stupid girl, for those who don't know Russian)"

Suki scoffed at his comment, but pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand. Kai was lying limply on his back, his breaths short and shallow. Blood was seeping out of the wound on his shoulder, and was starting to form a puddle on the floor.

Suki's breath became shaky. She hated blood, especially when it came from someone she cared for. With unsteady hands, she pulled his shirt over his head and set it down next to her. She found herself blushing slightly at the sight of his bare chest, but the feeling quickly turned to one of worry and slight queasiness at the state of his shoulder.

The bullet had gone straight through, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about pulling anything out of the wound. Suki didn't think she could take that anyway. She was thankful that the bullet didn't damage any major organs or arteries, but the blood loss would still be enough to kill him if she didn't do something soon.

She undid the straps of her overalls and started ripping strips of material off of the bottom of her shirt. Once she was satisfied with her amount of makeshift bandages, she snapped the straps of her overalls back into place.

Then, very carefully, she began to wrap the bandages around his injured shoulder. He flinched in pain unconsciously when she touched the wound.

"Sorry," she whispered.

She continued to dress the injury carefully. When she was done, she tied the loose ends in a knot to hold them in place. Suki sat back on her heels to admire her work.

Blood was already starting to seep through the cloth, but the flow was rather diminished and weaker than before. Now she just had to wait for him to wake up. She found herself studying his pale features. His face was slack and unmoving, holding no emotion, but still managing to hold a certain quality that attracted hundreds of swooning girls to fall head over heels for him, without knowing a single thing about him. Suki herself had always liked him, but more as a brother. She could feel her feelings starting to sway as she grew older however, and now she wasn't exactly sure where she stood.

Suki knew there was defiantly something there, but she couldn't tell if it was just a physical attraction or not. Kai was a cold, tormented, and on occasion seemingly emotionless person at times, but she knew he had a good heart underneath it all. Under the stoic front that he presented to the world, she knew he cared for others, especially his friends. Just now he'd risked his life to try and get to them, to try and help them out of danger. And she knew that if it ever came down to losing his life or someone innocent losing theirs, he'd give up his.

Without even thinking of the consequences, Suki reached out her arm and touched his face with the back of her hand. Then, slowly, she moved her hand down and traced his jaw line with her finger. She smiled slightly, but the smile faded quickly and she snatched her hand back. What was she doing? No one touched Kai. No one. Not unless it was against his will. And here she was, touching his face without him knowing, and actually _liking _it. She was trespassing on forbidden territory, and she knew it.

'_This is no more than a stupid crush. I'm feeling lust, not love, and that will never change,' _she thought to herself. But even as the words went through her mind, part of her was screaming that she was lying to herself, while the other insisted that the only reason she was thinking that was because reality wasn't always what someone wanted to hear.

Suki was snapped out of her trance when the sound of pounding footsteps reached her ears.

"Someone's hacked into the security system from the inside! Hurry, we have to catch them before they get away!"

Suki didn't know who the voice belonged to, but it didn't sound like someone she'd be wanting to meet anytime soon. She looked down at Kai. Still out like a light. And in the middle of the hallway, too. If they were going to go unnoticed, she'd either have to wake him up, or drag him to someplace with a door and lock.

She bent down next to him and shook his shoulder. "Kai? Kai, wake up. Come on, I really don't want to have to drag your dead weight around this place." Nothing. Not even so much as a flinch. She slapped his cheek. "Kai." Silence. "Kai!"

The footsteps were growing louder. Suki growled. It looked like she'd be dragging him to safety. Not exactly the option she'd be leaning toward, but it didn't look like that mattered much to anyone right now. And whoever was coming toward them wasn't going to stop because she didn't particularly feel like dragging around an unconscious person to the nearest supply closet for cover.

Suki latched her hands under his arms and began pulling herself backwards, hauling Kai with her. "You owe me for this one. You so owe me." She managed to get around the nearest corner, but the footsteps were still as loud as ever. Suki quickened her pace, fear and adrenaline coursing through her body.

Finally she came upon a small door that was thankfully unlocked and pulled herself and Kai into it, shutting the door behind them. Once inside, she fumbled with the door handle, trying to figure out how to lock it. The room had no light and was pitch black, so she couldn't see what kind of lock it was. After a few seconds she heard a _'click', _signaling that they were now safe.

Suki could feel the tension drain out of her body and slid down to the floor, her back leaning against the wall. Kai was still unconscious, and she could hear him breathing softly. Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. They might be safe, but what about Tala and the others? Those men were looking for them. What if they were in trouble.

She reached down for her radio and said shakily into the speaker, "Kenny? Rei? Max? Tyson? Stephania? Anyone? Is anyone there?" She waited for several seconds, but received no reply. "Hello?! Are you guys ok? Can anybody hear me? HELLO?!" Despite her urging, she still received no answer.

Suki could feel herself begin sweat. They weren't answering. She wasn't sure if it was because they couldn't, or they wouldn't, but they weren't answering. And that wasn't good.

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Tala's fist went flying into the man's face, sending him to the ground, both hands holding his bleeding nose. He looked around at the others. They were fighting off the numerous BioVolt employees the best they could, but they were outnumbered three to one, making things exceedingly difficult.

Max and Tyson had pulled out their blades, as well as Rei, but he was also using some hand on hand combat techniques. Stephania was also using simple fist fighting to ward off the many guards and employees around them. She wasn't much for blading anyway, and found it silly to use a sport for combat, especially since you were disgracing that sport by using it for violence. You didn't see football players chucking footballs at people's heads in the middle of the street, now did you? Besides, using beyblading as a way to overpower people was got BioVolt started in the first place.

Despite the fact that their opposition clearly outnumbered them, BioVolt didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight. Tala figured they had been ordered to capture them, not to harm them. It was, however, quite hard to capture five teenagers who obviously wanted a fight without some damage being done. Most of the guards had already lost their tempers and were beginning to throw their own punches.

Stephania detracted from the fight for a few short seconds to see how everyone else was faring. They seemed to be holding their own. They were all a little banged up, but weren't showing any signs of slowing down.

She began turning around to find another opponent, but her head whipped back around the other way when a hard fist slammed into her cheek. She stumbled back and tripped over her feet, landing unceremoniously on her backside, but quickly pulled herself back up and turned to face the person who had hit her.

He was a tall man, cracking his knuckles and grinning. So, he thought he was big stuff for landing a hit to the little teenage girl, did he? Oh, he'd be sorry.

"Shouldn't have done that," Stephania scolded before kneeing him in the groin. The man gasped and fell to his knees. Once he was down, she thrust the heel of her hand into his nose, breaking it. Then she punched him square in the face, sending him to the floor.

"Bastard." She cradled the forming bruise on her cheek and pouted slightly. "Ow." She walked away to rejoin the fight, the man still bleeding on the floor.

Max and Tyson were doing quite well for themselves. Because they weren't using physical contact to battle like the others, they were taking on multiple opponents at one time. Rei, who was also fist fighting with Stephania and Tala, was using Drigger to battle one person and his own combat skills to battle another. Kenny, however, was backed up against the wall, doing his best to stay out of the way.

Things seemed to be going their way for a while, but all that quickly changed. Apparently, someone had called for back up, and a dozen more men joined the fight. If you wanted to call what formed after that a fight. The teens were so outnumbered they had no choice to surrender, and soon all of them were being held down by two or three men. Most of them gave in, knowing there was no point in fighting that many people, and that they would have a better chance escaping with another plan. Tyson in particular struggled furiously to no avail, but still causing enough of a problem that he had to be sedated. He was now unconscious.

Tala looked at Stephania, both of them being securely held by one man on each side. She looked up at him to find him staring at her, and gave him a questioning look. He mouthed, 'We need to think of another plan. Do you have anything?'

She looked confused for a moment, then mouthed back, 'No.'

Tala gave her an exasperated look. Well, what was she supposed to do? She was up a very _long, _very _wide _creek without a paddle. She might as well just throw herself off the boat and drown at her own free will before someone pushed her off. But, of course, that wouldn't help the current situation at all, so she supposed she could pull something to try and dig herself out of the hole she was currently residing in.

Not knowing what else to do, and not having anything to lose at doing it, Stephania craned her neck to the side and said, "Oh my God, look!"

Just as she was hoping, but not particularly expecting to happen, one of the men holding her looked to his right, and his grip loosed just slightly on her arms. This gave her a small window of opportunity that she desperately needed, and she elbowed the man as hard as she could in the ribs. He slid to the floor, winded, and Stephania kicked the other man in the groin, then ran as fast as she could away from the crowd of guards that had crowded around them.

Tala, the men holding him distracted by the commotion, kicked himself free of them and ran down an opposite corridor. Stephania saw this, happy that her plan, although very simple and defiantly not thought out, had worked. She didn't make it as far as she would have liked however. After about 20 yards, she felt a sharp sting in her back and knew instantly that she was being sedated. She ran for as long as she could before falling to the ground, her body paralyzed. From her position on the floor, she could still see Tala running off in the other direction. At least they hadn't caught him, so maybe he would find Suki and Kai and get some help for them. Then suddenly, her world went black.

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The first thing Kai felt initially upon awaking was a pain in his shoulder. Not a sharp, searing pain like he had felt before he had passed out, but more of a dull, aching pain that just really, really annoyed him.

He could hear a voice in the background, but it was muffled, and he had to focus to catch some of it.

"-ou guys ok? Can anybody hear me? HELLO?!"

Suki. He was almost sure of it. But she sounded distressed. Was something wrong?

He slowly opened his eyes, expecting them to be burned by the light like they usually did right after awakening, but instead he found that everything around him was dark. So dark, in fact, that he couldn't even make out his surroundings. Where was he?

He decided to try and sit up to get a better idea of where he was, so he used his elbows to prop himself up into a sitting position.

Suki was alerted of his awakening by the sudden movement beside her, and he heard the swish of her hair as she turned to face him. "Kai? Are you awake?"

He was silent for a moment before answering, trying to find his voice. "Yeah," he replied quietly, his throat still a little raspy. He could almost feel the tension drain out of Suki's body at the sound of his voice.

"Oh thank God. I don't think I cold have dragged you around anywhere else anyway. Are you ok?"

Kai brought a hand up to his shoulder and found that there were bandages around the wound. How did those get there? "Did you do this?" he asked. "The bandages?"

"Yeah. But enough talking. We need to get out of here and find the others so we can get this thing over and done with."

Kai shifted himself into a more comfortable position, but jarred is wound doing so, sending a sharp bolt of pain through his shoulder. He hissed through his teeth and clutched at the wound, futilely trying to stop the pain.

"Don't move around so much, your still hurt," Suki mothered.

Kai took a moment to try and regain himself, then replied through clenched teeth, "I'm going to have to…to move eventually if we…if we want to get out of h-here." The pain was growing rapidly, and he was finding it hard just to speak.

"Good point," Suki agreed, slightly worried by Kai's behavior. "Well, just try not to injure yourself even more than you already are. Come on." She stood up and reached out a hand to him. "Let me help you up."

Kai looked at her hand as if it were alien to him, then laid his hands flat on the floor and pushed himself off the floor, his eyes closed tightly in agony. Once he was up off the floor, he leaned against the wall of the cramped closet for support. All this stress, not to mention his newly acquired injury, had left him feeling exhausted and in pain. But he new how to deal with both of those issues, and was the master at hiding them. So after resting for a few seconds, he stood up straight on his own, with no traces that anything was wrong on his face.

"I don't need your help," he said coldly. Suki withdrew her hand and held up both hands defensively, but didn't say anything, even though tons of thoughts were going through her head. Like, if he didn't need help, then what was that passing out in the middle of the hall about, huh? And he didn't exactly drag himself into this closet. Or wrap his own injuries. Or anything, for that matter. And yet he still acted like he could get along fine without anyone, but then again, that was only _most _of the time. Because she had seen him change face on this subject before. Always back and forth and back and forth and back again. It got so confusing.

"Are we going or what?" said Kai's cold voice, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, let's get out of here and find everyone," she replied, albeit somewhat distantly, as she was still a little caught up in her thoughts. But she mentally shook them out of her head. There would be plenty of time to deflate his ego after they were safe.

They both stepped out cautiously into the corridor, wary of anyone who still might be looking for them. Once they were sure no one was around, Suki turned to Kai. "So, what's the plan?"

Kai rotated his shoulder, wincing slightly in pain. "First we need to get a hold of that stupid control that Voltaire has and destroy it. That way we won't have to worry about Rei being hurt. And we need to do it fast. Voltaire isn't planning on letting me live much longer, so if we don't get to it soon enough, I won't be able to help you get rid of him and this damned place."

Suki studied his words. Was this the same person who had acted so cold and completely rude to her before? Just moments ago he was distant and selfish, and now all he could think about was making sure _Rei _would be safe, and making sure he was alive long enough to insure _their _safety as well, but absolutely nothing on helping _himself._ He was such a mixed bag and had such a split personality that it was difficult to keep up with him.

"Suki, are you listening to me?"

"Me? Oh yeah, for sure. But how are you going to get that control watchyamathingy away from Voltaire? And what about Dranzer? If we don't get to him soon, Voltaire might figure out how to harness his power, and then we're all royally screwed no matter what."

"Suki, Voltaire isn't going to figure out how to use Dranzer's power no matter what. And if he does, it won't be for a long time. He won't even start trying until I'm dead, anyway."

She supposed that made sense. She was glad they didn't have to worry about the bitbeast at the moment, because she really wanted to find the others as soon as possible. Who knew what could be happening to them?

Suki suddenly realized that Kai was no longer standing next to her. She looked ahead to see that he had started walking without her.

"Hey!" she yelled, jogging to catch up with him. "What's the deal with leaving me behind, huh? You could have told me you were ready to go."

"Well, you seemed so lost in your own little world I didn't want to disturb you." 

Suki rolled her eyes. "Whatev—

She was cut short when a blur ran around the corner, slamming into her and Kai. They were sent flying backwards, the blur flying the other way. Suki landed hard on her back, the wind knocked from her lungs. She could already feel bruises begin to form. Kai landed next to her, equally as hard. The impact jarred his wound, tearing it slightly, and it was all he could do to suppress a hiss of pain.

They both sat back up to get a look at what had ran into them, and discovered a very familiar looking figure sitting opposite them.

"Tala?" they said simultaneously.

Tala looked up at them, nursing the large bump on the back of his head. He looked surprisingly happy to see them. "Come on, get up. I need your guys help. Hurry!" he urged, standing up.

Suki climbed slowly to her feet, Kai following suit. "Well first off, let me say hello, and no, I was not hurt from the impact of you running headlong into my face, but thank you for asking."

"Whatever Suki, we need to hurry. Voltaire's got the others and we need to get to them before something serious happens."

This caught Kai and Suki's attention. "Where did he take them?" Kai asked, his voice cold.

"I don't know. That's why we need to hurry."

Kai nodded, not needing to exchange any more words, and ran the best he could with an aggravated wound beside Tala. Suki was running behind them when she thought of something. "Kai, what about that control thing you were talking about earlier, the Voltaire has? You said we needed to find that first before we could do anything."

"I was planning on finding Voltaire first though, since he probably always has that thing on him. But now he's got the others, so we'll just have to kill two birds with one stone while they're all in one place."

Suki nodded, then focused her energy on running as fast as she could.

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Kenny sat in a small supply closet, the room illuminated with the blue light coming from Dizzi's screen. When the others had started to become overpowered, he had slipped away and had hidden himself from BioVolt's guards. He had felt horrible in doing so, but he was the only one with technology that could help them win this fight, and he knew that if he had been caught, they probably would have destroyed Dizzi, and then where would they be? He was no help to anyone captured, so now he focused his efforts on hacking into the abbey's computer system to get the blueprints and any other information he could find.

Kenny scrolled through the numerous files on his computer screen, when he came across one labeled "Immune Device." That sounded a lot like what Voltaire had said he put in Kai and Rei's immune systems. In hopes of finding more out about this strange device, he opened the file.

It was a huge file, full of equations and plan layouts for prototypes that dated back to 1988. Voltaire hadn't just recently come up with this whole plan. He'd been plotting this since right before Stephania was born.

Kenny scrolled down further. The more he read, the further his mouth dropped into his chest. This wasn't the device they had originally thought it was. It wasn't some kind of sci-fi machine planted at the base of someone's skull to control them like zombies. This was much worse.

It turned out that what Voltaire had put in Kai and Rei held an extreme resemblance to the HIV/AIDS virus. It was like a microscopic device that attached itself the body's immune cells, causing the immune system to fail and leaving the body susceptible to rare diseases such as paracoccidioidomycosis and feline leukemia . But unlike HIV, it could also restore the infected body back to perfect heath as well. It could also stop the healing of a specific injury, like Kai's broken arm.

But what made Kenny so shocked was the flaw in the microscopic device, a flaw that Voltaire knew about but still decided to go along with his plan anyway. Even though he could control it, the device, like HIV, still slowly destroyed all the body's helper T cells, and that couldn't be stopped. If they didn't find a way to destroy whatever was inside Kai and Rei, it would slowly kill them.

Kenny exited out of the file and searched as fast as he could for the blueprints to the building. If they didn't get out of there and get Kai and Rei to the hospital soon, that device would crash their immune systems. And if that happened, their group might be going home two persons short.

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Hello kind, wonderful, understanding readers and reviewers of mine, who won't inflict bodily harm on me for not updating since God created the earth. I really am sorry for that you guys, but guess what? I have excuses!

I suppose you're all wondering who Emily is, the person whose memory I dedicated this chapter to. She was one of my best friends, and she, her sister, and her mother all died this last November in a car wreck. That's probably one of the biggest reasons why I haven't updated. I was in Alabama when it happened, and flew all the way up to Montana to be with my friends and attend her funeral. It was a really, really hard time for me, and I still find myself breaking down into tears when I think about her. Right now I'm still in Montana, my mom pulling a hell of a lot of strings to move back there. My brother and my niece Maddy are also up here, since my brother now lives with us again, so at least all of my family is here with me.

Another reason is because this was the first Christmas I've had without my dad, and it was a really emotional time, considering that my best friend had just died as well. It is also getting really close to the anniversary of his death, which has also been really hard on me.

My last excuse: Sheer laziness. That usually always plays a part in my bad updating habits, I'll admit. I do get pretty lazy sometimes.

That being said, I hope everyone had a great holiday and a happy new year. Can't wait to talk to everyone!


	27. The Power of a Phoenix

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it

**Quote of the Update: **Take risks. Drive fast.

The amount of frustration and annoyance that Voltaire felt as he looked down at the tiny bit was so great in abundance that he was absolutely certain he had never felt anger until then. The room he was standing in was filled with the best scientists and experts on beyblade and bitbeast history he could find. Numerous papers filled with miniscule writing littered the walls, being held up by strips of tape. Computers hummed with research and data and several references that were used for comparison purposes. The occupants in the room were baffled. The studied the sheets of information taped to the wall, reading and re-reading and re-re-reading, going back and forth through computer files over and over again.

The reason for the confusion?

That phoenix.

Voltaire was so close to fulfilling his plan he could taste it, touch it, hear it. Everything would be absolutely _perfect_, but no. That damn bitbeast had to screw it up. The fiery bird was totally unresponsive. No matter how they tried, they could not draw it out.

It was because Kai was still alive, some of them had realized. He obviously had a strong connection with the phoenix, and was probably the only one who the mythical creature would respond to. Of course, Voltaire could have just killed Kai straight away like he had already planned on doing, but then his security had been breeched. There were only so many people in the world with the motive to try a stunt like that. So for the moment he needed Kai, needed him as bait to catch his little friends. Besides, he wasn't going to give Kai the satisfaction of a quick death.

He could just wait until the intruders were caught in disposed of, but he was finding it hard to keep his patience under control. He wanted that phoenix's power _now._ He didn't want to wait. And the master of the bitbeast was the only one who could achieve that, despite how much he wanted the satisfaction of doing it himself and having something to rub in his grandson's face before he put him out of his misery.

"Lord Voltaire, sir, the intruders have been detained," came a voice from behind, making him forget his frustration for a moment.

"Good. Where my suspicions true?"

"Yes sir. What would you like us to do with them?"

Voltaire was about to tell the man to just throw them in a cell until his current problem was dealt with when he got an idea. A wide grin slowly spread across his face, make him look slightly deranged. He turned around to face the man, who was still waiting for an answer.

"Take them to the top floor training room, and make sure you have that new project I've been working on up there as well. Then escort young Kai up to join his little friends. I believe a reunion is in order."

The man looked slightly frightened at the last comment, which confused Voltaire. "What is it?"

"Uh, sir, no one told you?"

Voltaire's face took on a downright menacing look, and the man's became even more frightened. "No one told me what, exactly?"

The man swallowed the lump in his throat. "Lord Voltaire, uh, sir, your grandson escaped during the momentary black out." The man paused when Voltaire's eyes widened and his brow knotted together in anger. "T-there's been no sign of him since, although we have had men out looking for him, s-sir."

Voltaire's eyes burned with absolutely rage. His body stiffened and his fists clenched. His grandson had weaseled his way out of his custody again. Which meant he now had the upper hand. And that meant that Voltaire was losing, and Voltaire just _didn't _lose, especially not to that little bastard.

'_No,' _he thought. _'He will not win this time! Not when I am so close!'_

He reached into his pocket and gripped a tiny control. Then he pushed one of the two buttons on it, the one that would cause Kai's immune cells to stop functioning. The little son of a bitch wasn't going anywhere, not in the condition he had just put him in. Voltaire smiled to himself, the anger draining away. Everything would be fine now. No matter what Kai did, he had the ultimate way to bounce back from it.

The man stared at him uncertainly, swearing that the man before him _had _to be bipolar from the way he had just jumped from happy to sad and back again, and just hoped he wouldn't say anything to make him crash back down to sad, as he knew that would not end well for him.

"…Sir…?" he asked cautiously.

Voltaire snapped out of the little victory party in his head and looked up at his employee. "He's not going anywhere. Search the building until you find him and inform me as soon as you do. Bring him to me thereafter. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now go."

The man did as he was told and left the room. Voltaire pocketed the bitbeast on the table and made his way to go meet his guests. "You won't be in there much longer," he said to the dormant phoenix. "I'm about to win this game."

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The dim corridors echoed with footsteps. Four teens, two of them unconscious, were being led to what they believed would be their final resting place if they didn't think of something soon. There wasn't a whole lot any of them could do. Two of them weren't even awake, and the other two were being led with a burly loaded man on each arm. One false mood and they'd end up like their friends. Or worse.

Soon they came upon a flight of stairs. The two teens looked around their large captors and at each other, but neither of them looked any less confused than the other. They didn't particularly want to find out what was up those stairs, but it didn't seem like they were going to be given a choice either.

The stairs seemed endless, and their legs were beginning to hurt from being led up them at the fast pace that their captors wanted them to go. The darker haired of the two found himself half wishing they were unconscious like their friends. That way the could just be carried up instead of having to walk the seemingly never-ending staircase.

Finally, legs aching and breathing heavily, they made it to the top, only to be presented with more hallway to walk down. The blonde boy groaned, and received an elbow roughly jammed into his side for his disagreement. No one made a sound after that. They didn't have to hold their silence for long, however. Shortly after they stopped at a large steel door. One of the men unlocked it and swung it open, the hinges creaking slightly, then they threw the four teens unceremoniously onto the unforgiving floor. They heard the door slam loudly behind them, and then they were alone.

The two that were conscious got up slowly to their knees, groaning at the sting that ran up their bodies as they did so. The blonde straightened up his kneeling position and looked at his surroundings.

"Rei?" he asked.

"Yeah, Max?"

"Were exactly are we?"

Rei straightened up as well and looked around also. Beydishes lined the room, as well as computers that hummed softly from their positions on the walls. A large computer that seemed newer and sleeker than the others was in the middle of the room. It was on wheels and wasn't connected to the wall like the other computers and machines. Connected to the side of the large device was a steel cage. He wasn't exactly what that was for, but he could take a well enough guess.

"Rei," called Max softly. "They want our bitbeasts."

"Not ours, Max."

Max looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I think they want Kai's," he answered, his eyes never leaving the massive piece of equipment.

"What are they gonna do with Dranzer, though? And how are they gonna draw him out anyway? Only Kai can do that."

"I don't know," Rei replied, looking down at Tyson and Stephania. "I hope these guys are ok."

Max looked down as well. "I think they're just sleeping. They should be fine."

"I wonder what Suki and Tala are doing. Do you think they found Kai?"

"I hope so."

The creak of the door opening caused both of their heads to spin around and see who was coming in the room. They stared in suspense as the large door opened slowly, and gasped when the person was finally revealed.

"Voltaire."

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Kai skidded to his knees so suddenly that Suki and Tala didn't even notice at first and kept on running. Suki saw from the corner of her eye that he was no longer running with them and stopped in her tracks.

"Tala, something's wrong!" she called before running to his aid.

He was cradling his wounded shoulder, blood seeping through his pale fingers. Other gashes on his chest had also been reopened, but the bullet wound seemed to be the most severe.

'_That's weird,' _she thought. _'It didn't seem to be bothering him a minute ago. I mean, he was still a little weak, but nothing like this.' _

"Kai, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned, then felt stupid a second afterward.

'_What do you think's wrong, dumbass! He's sitting there bleeding all over the floor and you ask what's wrong.' _

Kai, however, didn't seem to take much notice of her stupid question however, and was concentrating more on his injury than her. She could hear Tala kneel down beside her.

"Did the running reopen them?" he asked.

Kai didn't answer right away, his eyes shut tight in pain and soft hissing sounds coming through his clenched teeth. "No," he managed to get out. "Happened too…quickly….ah!" He clutched his shoulder as a wave of pain wracked his body. He could feel his body trembling involuntarily.

"Then what?" Suki questioned worriedly.

He looked up at her, his eyes clouded with pain and panting slightly. "Voltaire….he knows….go…quick." Kai could feel his body going limp. He wasn't going to be able to stay awake for much longer.

"We're not just going to leave you here for that sick bastard. Come on," Tala stood up and gently grabbed his arm. "We'll drag you with us if we have to. Suki, take his other arm."

Suki gave him a questioning glance, but did as she was told and grabbed the upper arm that was connected to his good shoulder.

"On three," he instructed. Suki nodded, and Kai braced himself. "One….Two….Three!" They hoisted him up off the ground, but the victory didn't last very long.

"Ah!" Kai cried out in pain, not really caring if he was showing weakness. Who the hell cared, anyway? If he was in pain, he was in pain, and at the current moment crying out was the easiest way to deal with it.

Suki and Tala let Kai slide back onto the floor into a kneeling position, where he hunched over so far that his bangs skimmed the ground. His hand still clutched his shoulder, the pain intensified by Voltaire's device.

"Tala, no! He's hurting to badly. You're just going to hurt him worse."

Tala was about to reply when both their heads turned to a sound coming from the adjacent hallway. The sound of running footsteps.

"Well if we don't do anything we're all going to get caught and who knows what will happen then?!"

The footsteps volume grew, and Suki could feel her heartbeat increasing with fear.

"Just go you guys!" Kai yelled at them.

"No, Kai! We're not leaving you for him! Do you want to be killed?!"

"I don't care what happens to me, just go!" The footsteps continued to grow, and now they could hear voices as well.

"Why do you always have to pick the worst times to be so goddamn noble?!" Tala picked Kai up by his good arm and swung it over his shoulder, ignoring his weak moans of protest. Better alive and in pain than dead.

"Tala!"

"There's no time, Suki! We have to go!" Tala could hear the footsteps coming closer and closer with each passing second. He looked around frantically, trying to find someplace close by were they could hide. He saw none.

"Damnit…" he breathed.

"Hey you kids! Don't move!"

Suki swung her head around to the direction the voices were coming from, her hair swishing around her face.

"Tala, it's too late! There's nothing we can do."

As much as Tala hated to admit it, she was right. Their window of opportunity was too far gone. If they tried to get away now, they could end up seriously injured anyway. He clenched his teeth in anger and defeat. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was losing to that bastard.

In a matter of seconds they were surrounded, the sound of numerous guns being cocked echoing off the walls. Kai's head was hanging limply, his chin resting on his chest.

"Should have…gotten away…when you had the chance…" he said so softly Tala almost didn't hear it.

"What are you talking about? We went into this together and we're going to get out together."

"Young man," said a tall man, stepping through the sea of security guards. "We are under orders from Lord Voltaire to take you three into are custody. I suggest you do not struggle."

They didn't have to worry about that. They weren't going to do anything to put Kai's life in more danger than it was already in. The two teens submitted without struggle, Kai not having the energy to put up a fight anyway, and let the men lead them away. Tala looked at Suki, his arms pinned behind his back by two guards. She looked back solemnly, sadness shining in her eyes, then bowed her head in shame. Tala couldn't blame her. They had come into this with a thought out plan, and it had been crushed from the start. No matter what they told themselves, they were just kids. Voltaire was old, experienced and, even though he loathed admitting it, smart as hell. The light that had carried them through this whole ordeal was waning, and he didn't know what to do about it.

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Rei and Max turned their heads to the door as it was opened for a third time. Their two companions had not yet awakened, but they were beginning to stir. They weren't sure who they were expecting to walk through that door, but it wasn't who the saw.

Max gasped softly and Rei just stared as Tala, Suki, and a very battered looking Kai were thrown into the room, just as they had been, and hit the floor with a thump. They noticed how Kai twisted over to his other side as he fell so he would not land on that shoulder, which was dripping with blood. Tala and Suki slowly stood up after they hit the ground, but Kai just lay there on his side. Suki, seeing this with concern, gently lifted him off the floor by his good arm and let him lean on her.

"Well," started Voltaire, walking forward from his position by the strange computer that rested in the middle of the room. "Nice of you three to join our little party. And you Kai." He grabbed Kai's chin in his hand and raised his head to look him in the eye. Suki looked downright terrified at her close proximity to the man and backed off a little, but was stopped by Tala's hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if you hadn't pulled that little escape routine, you wouldn't be in this condition, and maybe your friends wouldn't even be here. It is your fault that they are in this position. I can understand you putting yourself in danger, but them? How selfish." Kai just scowled at him and jerked his head away.

Voltaire frowned. "Still have some fight in you, I see. That will change soon enough. But first, I need you standing." He reached into his pocket and, like magic, Kai's wounds closed before their very eyes, though not enough to give him the energy to fight back too much. He pushed himself off of Suki, not needed her support anymore. He gave her a quick glance, which she knew to be a silent 'thank you'.

Kai glared at Voltaire, the hatred that he felt for the man rushing back to him. Every time things seemed to be going smoothly and normal for him, Voltaire felt the need to ruin it for him. Every time he even felt a little bit of happiness, he would tear it away. But it was one thing to mess with Kai, to make his life miserable. When you screwed with his friends, it was taking it too far.

"Let them go, Voltaire. They mean nothing to you. You have no use for them." Even he didn't believe what he was saying, but it was worth a shot.

Voltaire laughed. "Now that's where you're wrong, grandson, and you know it. They mean something to me because they mean something to you. That makes them my advantage."

Kai scowled. "What do you want?"

Voltaire began to circle him like a hawk, but Kai remained still. "You know what I want, and you know how to get it." Voltaire stopped in front of him, his grandson's eyes burning with hatred. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for him to see. Kai's mask of anger slipped slightly.

"No…"

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Stephania stirred slightly, her thought process still a little slow from the sedative. She could hear voices in the background, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

'_My head hurts,' _she thought groggily. Where was she anyway? Somewhere in the abbey, she knew that much at least. She opened her eyes, but found that everything looked like blurry blobs of color. She looked the form next to her, and figured it was Tyson. He seemed to be awakening too.

Stephania blinked a few times, trying to make her vision more clear. Things began to come into focus. She sat up slightly, and looked around the room. It looked like that old training room Voltaire used for his 'special' students. It was the same room her execution had been ordered in.

'_How ironic,' _she thought vaguely.

She looked up to see Tala, Suki, and Kai standing by the door, Voltaire standing in front of them. He was holding something up to Kai's face, but she couldn't really tell what it was. Kai's features looked slightly worried, but other than that he was keeping a pretty good check on his emotions and letting the angry front shine through more. Rei and Max were there too, but they were standing behind Voltaire, more near Tyson and herself. No one had seemed to have taken notice of her yet.

She caught a movement from the corner of her eye and looked over to see that Tyson was awake and trying to sit up. Slight panic flashed across her face. He couldn't just get up and start walking around with Voltaire in the room. Better to be inconspicuous in a situation like this.

"Tyson," she whispered. "Tyson, lay down. Don't let him see you."

But he didn't seem to hear her. As he got to his knees she heard a loud 'clank!' Stephania couldn't help but wince as the sound echoed through the large room. It probably wouldn't have been as loud if the room hadn't been so quiet, but unfortunately at the current moment you could hear a pin drop.

Voltaire turned around to face them just as Tyson quickly picked up the metal beyblade that had fallen out of his pocket. Stephania sat all the way up, seeing as how there was no reason for her to lie on the floor anymore.

"Well, well, well," Voltaire said, walking towards them. "Look who finally decided to join us."

At the sight of her grandfather coming closer and closer to her with each footstep, Stephania couldn't help but feel her stomach clench with fear. It must have shown on her face, because Voltaire let out a chuckle.

"Scared, are you?" Stephania didn't answer, but her eyes widened when he grabbed her by her arms and pulled her to her feet so she was eyelevel with him. "You should be. And in a moment, I'll show you why."

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Kai could feel terror sneaking up on him as he heard his grandfather speak those words to Stephania. Voltaire had kept his friends here for a reason, a reason he feared he was about to find out.

Voltaire turned back to him, and Kai tried to compose himself. "Well Kai, now you know why you're still alive," he started, holding up Dranzer's bit chip again. "I think it's about time we got started."

Voltaire pulled a gun out of his coat, and, without even taking his eyes off Kai, cocked it and pointed it in Stephania and Tyson's direction. Stephania let out an involuntary gasp and jumped slightly as the gun was pointed towards them, and Tyson let out an "Aw, shit."

At the same moment, two other men came into the room. The teens barely had enough time to turn their heads to see who was coming through the door as those men too pulled out guns and cocked them. Suki felt herself huddle a little closer to Tala. Rei and Max looked at each other, then tried to run to their friends' aid.

"No!" Kai yelled at them, not meaning for his voice to sound so shrill. "Just stay where you are! Don't move!"

"But Kai—

"I said stay where you are, Rei!" Kai could feel his mouth go dry with fear. He had a feeling that not one of those guns were meant for him.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Kai," said Voltaire, a smile curling his lips, "and the choice is this: Your bitbeast, or your friends."

Kai's eyes widened considerably. He was going to kill them. He was going to kill every one of them. And the only way he could save them was to…

'_No! I can't do that to Dranzer! I can't lose him!' _

Voltaire, seeing (and delighting in) his grandson's inner turmoil, spoke again. "It's up to you Kai. You call out your bitbeast, or I blow your friends' heads off."

Kai was panicking. Maybe it wasn't so visible on the outside, but on the inside he was going crazy. He couldn't betray Dranzer like that, but what was worse? Losing one friend, or losing five friends and a sister?

"Tell you what, I'll give you till the count of three, and then I'll decide for you. One.…"

No, he needed more time! Around him his friends' faces were filled with sheer horror as Kai struggled to choose.

"Two…."

Suki felt water drip on her face, only to find that she was crying.

"Th—

"OK!!" Voltaire stopped himself, but didn't put down the gun. Tyson glanced over at Kai. He didn't think he'd ever seen him look more miserable in the time he'd known him than he did now.

"Ok…" Kai looked as though he was having a hard time getting the next words out of his mouth. "I'll do what you want."

Voltaire laughed and lowered the gun. The other two men followed suit. He pulled a blue blade out of his pocket and placed the bit chip in the middle.

_Game. _

He threw it towards his grandson, the pleasure of victory showing clearly on his face.

_Set. _

Kai caught it, his eyes hidden behind his bangs.

_Match. _

He lowered his hand in defeat, and pulled out his launcher from his back pocket. His friends watched him put the blade in the launcher with a 'click', and then grasp the ripcord in his hand. For the first time in a while, they noticed the cast that was still plastered onto his hand. Tala, Max, Tyson, and Rei, who all had bitbeasts of their own, could only imagine what their friend was going through.

Kai yanked on the ripcord as hard as he could, anger, sadness, and guilt flowing though his body. The blade spun on the concrete floor, and, in a flash of yellow and orange light, his phoenix emerged from its center. Before it could even fully appear, before Kai had a chance to see his life long friend one last time, the computer that sat in the middle of the room hummed to life, and the bitbeast was sucked into the metal cage that rested at its side. A green light danced across its bars, shielding the fiery bird from view. But that didn't stop the screams and cries of hurt and betrayal from traveling to Kai's ears.

Kai clenched his teeth in agony, and felt an unfamiliar stinging in his eyes, still shrouded by his long bangs. He fell to his knees as the cage was wheeled by him, and didn't even turn around to watch them take the bitbeast out of the room and away forever. Voltaire followed behind them, but stopped before leaving to say one last thing.

_The power of a phoenix…_

"Good choice Kai. I knew you'd see it my way."

_The strength Dranzer had unconditionally given him…_

Voltaire turned away and followed his long awaited prize out the door.

_The so-called 'skills' he was supposed to have been born with…_

The metal door slammed shut, the deafening noise bouncing off the walls and coming back to taunt Kai over and over again.

_It had done him no good…_

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Wow, that was dramatic. A little note about the italics at the very end, I just wanted to differentiate the text Kai was kind of 'thinking but not really thinking', from the regular text. Just thought I'd clear that up.

I really could have went on, and actually had to force myself not to. It's just to perfect a spot to end, I had to do it. Besides, what kind of authoress would I be if I didn't leave you hanging?

Oh, and to those of you who asked about that little Kai/Suki moment: No, I probably won't pair them. I despise with every fiber of my being OC pairings. I just thought it'd be sweet to put in there. So don't worry. I'll just leave it to the imagination.

And I just want to say to all the reviewers out there, I love you guys so much! You really do keep me going and give me inspiration to write. I'd be lost without you.

Not much more to say, really, except that I hope you guys liked it. See you next time. 

(And no, the story isn't over!)


	28. Fuego

**Disclaimer: **Don't own it.

**Quote of the update: **Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire. _- Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)_

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Kai didn't even flinch when two men came up behind him and pulled his arms behind his back. They lifted him to his feet, and he didn't resist them. Others went to grab the remaining teens and escort them out. Tala looked over at Kai as his arms were also secured behind his back. His eyes were still shrouded by his bangs, and his head was bowed.

'_I guess that's it then,' _Tala thought sadly. _'He's lost the will to fight.' _

Tyson looked desperately at Kai, hoping their normally strong and confident leader would give them some direction. His team captain looked utterly hopeless, and didn't even shoot a fiery glare at the men who were now leading him out of the large training room. Tyson shrugged off the guys who were trying to take a hold of him.

"Kai, what are you doing?!" he called to his unresponsive teammate. "You can't let them do this! You can't let them win! After all we've done, after all that Dranzer's done, to help you; you're just going to throw it all away?" He received no answer.

"Tyson…" Rei warned.

"No Rei! You and Kai may be ready to quit, but I'm not." The men grabbed his arms again, trying to get him under control. "Get _off _of me!" He pulled away from them again.

"Since when do you just give up, Kai? Since when do you let anyone tell you what to do?!"

"Stop moving around, kid!" yelled one of the guards, striking him in the temple with the butt of his gun. Tyson fell to his knees, dazed by the blow.

"Tyson!" said Max. "Don't fight them, you're gonna get hurt!"

"You'd do well to listen to him, kid," teased one of the guards holding his arms. "Be more like your little friend over there." He motioned to Kai. Kai caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and stopped in his tracks. Maybe….maybe Tyson was right. Since when _did _he just give up? Was he just going to stand by and let them take Dranzer from him, hurt his friends, and kill him off later?"

'_Hell no.' _

"Keep moving!" snapped one of the guards, shoving him roughly in the back of his head. Kai whipped around suddenly and knocked the guy off his feet with his fist. He kneed the other one in the groin, then struck him in the face with a punch. Tala took advantage of the momentary distraction and took out the two that were holding him. Rei, Max, and Tyson followed suit, elbowing, biting, and kicking their ways out of their captors holds.

"Not so fast." Two men pulled Suki and Stephania to them, pointing guns at each of their heads. "Don't move." The boys obeyed, but the girls didn't look too worried.

"You picked a bad day to fuck with me, buddy," said Suki quickly, kicking backwards. She hit him in the knee cap and took the gun out of his loosened hold. Then she hit him in the abdomen with her foot, knocking him onto the ground. She pinned him down with her left leg and held the gun in front of his face. At the same time Stephania stomped down on her captor's foot, shoved him backwards, and kicked the gun out of his hands.

"We don't play damsel in distress," she said.

"What should we do with them?" asked Suki. "Should we kill them quickly, or drag it out?"

"Well, you know what I would pick, but maybe we shouldn't kill them. I don't want their worthless blood on my hands."

"Good point," agreed Suki, and she struck the man across the face with his gun, knocking him out. Stephania did the same, only punching the guy in the forehead instead.

"Alright, alright," said Tyson, still a little dizzy from the attack on his head. "Stop hogging all the spotlight. What's the plan, Kai?"

"I'm not sure, but I need to find Dranzer, and you guys need to get out of here and get help."

"Kai, you can't do this by yourself. It's too dangerous. You're going to need our help," argued Rei.

"And the best way you could give it to me right now is to leave and contact the police. I'm only thinking realistically, Rei. Voltaire outnumbers us. We can't do this ourselves. And as much as I hate to admit it, there isn't much I can do right now to bring him down. If we got really lucky, we might be able to stop him ourselves, but there would be millions of people left who would gladly pick up the slack. Trust me, I know what he and the people who follow him are capable of."

Rei sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm thinking realistically too, Kai. And thinking realistically, there's no way you can do this. Either you come with us and we all leave, or we all stay here with you."

"Rei, I'm not negotiating with you. You're going to leave and I'm going to stay. _That's it._"

Rei let out an exasperated noise. "You're so stubborn! Why can't we help you here?!"

"Because I—

"Children!" The arguing ceased for a moment, and everyone turned their heads to Suki, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her arms crossed around her chest. "I have a suggestion. Why don't some of us leave, and some of us stay?"

They looked at her blankly. She rolled her eyes.

"Crazy, I know."

Kai crossed his arms. "Fine. Tala and I will stay here, and the rest of you can leave."

"That's not what I meant, you prick!"

"Come on, Suki. We all know that five of you couldn't match one of me."

Stephania, who was standing next to Suki, scoffed at Tala. "Could you be anymore full of yourself?"

"Probably."

She clenched her teeth and mumbled, "Jackass."

"For the last time, all of you need to leave."

"For the last time, we're not leaving you alone."

"Rei…"

"Kai!"

"QUIET!"

Max stood away from the commotion, but couldn't stand the noise anymore. His freckled cheeks were flushed red and his hands were clenched.

"I'm sick of you guys fighting! This is getting us anywhere, it's wasting time, and it's giving me a headache, so this is what's going to happen. Kai and Tala can go look for Dranzer, Suki, Stephania and Tyson can go look for that control that Voltaire has, and me and Rei can go see if there's anyway to contact some help, ok?"

They exchanged looks, then Kai said, "I like it," and he and Tala left without saying goodbye. Max blinked a couple of times.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be."

Stephania walked up and punched him playfully in the arm. "Good job Max." Suki came after and punched him in the same spot. "Yeah, way to be. Let's go, Tyson." Then they were gone as well.

Max and Rei looked at each other. "You have no idea how badly I want this stupid thing to be done with," said Max. Rei nodded in agreement, and followed the others out the door.

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Tyson, Suki, and Stephania walked down the hall quietly, almost like they were walking down the sidewalk instead of in a building owned by a deadly millionaire who wanted to kill them. Stephania was chewing gum, and Suki was jealous.

"Where'd you get gum?"

Stephania blew a bubble, then sucked it back in with a _pop_. "From a gum wrapper."

"No fair, I want some!"

Stephania reached into her mouth and pulled out a wad of chewed pink gum, split it in half, and held one of the halves out to Suki. "Here you go."

"Um, ew. Put that back in your mouth."

She shrugged and, putting both pieces back, continued chewing. They walked in silence for a while, Suki and Tyson assuming that Stephania knew where she was going. After some time, Suki let out a long sigh.

"I'm bored." 

Stephania blew another bubble. "Me too."

"We should play a game."

"We should."

Tyson stopped in his tracks. "Gah! What is wrong with you two? Is this a car ride or something?!"

The two girls stopped as well and looked at each other. "Chill Tyson, it's not like being depressingly morbid and dramatically serious is going to change the situation," Suki pointed out.

"But how can you joke around and play games at a time like this?! We could all die!"

"At least we'll die happy," said Stephania.

"Truer words were never spoken," Suki agreed.

Tyson pulled at the edges of his hat. "You two are so annoying!"

"Speak for yourself," he heard one of them mumble.

"Oh, forget it! Do either of you know where we're going?"

"Nope," was the simultaneous answer. Both girls looked a little shocked at each other's reply. Suki pointed a finger in her friend's direction.

"But I thought…"

Stephania raised an eyebrow. "You thought what?"

"You don't know where you're going?!"

"Hell no! Why would you think that I did?!"

"Well, I just _assumed— _

"Suki! What makes you think I remember my way around this trash bag any more than you do? I can barely remember names after five minutes and you expect me to remember something like this after ten years?!"

Suki threw her hands in the air. "Great! Now we're lost!"

"You say that like it's my fault!"

"I did not! Don't be so damn touchy!"

"I am _not _touchy!"

"YOU GUYS!" They looked at Tyson, whose face was red and head was hatless, as he had taken it off to wring between his hands.

"All anyone's been doing all day is fighting. First Rei and Kai, and now you two! I don't want to be here anymore, so can we please just work together and get this over with so I can go home?!"

Suki raised her eyebrows and Stephania blinked.

"Sheesh, don't get your underoos in a bunch!" said Suki.

"Yeah, can't two people talk without getting screamed at?"

"I know! Some people are so rude…"

The conversation continued down the hallway as the two girls left Tyson to wallow in his frustration. He seethed for a moment, threw his hat on the ground and stomped on it while muttering "What have I done in my life worth punishing?!", then picked up his thoroughly abused hat and continued after them.

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Tala and Kai walked in awkward silence. The last time they'd met (besides that incident back in Japan before they'd came to Russia) had been under…interesting circumstances. Otherwise known as the World Tournament. This awkwardness would have already been confronted had not the previous times they'd crossed paths been in situations of sheer life-threatening danger. Neither teen was very in-tune with their emotions (not to mention lacking in social intelligence), and weren't sure what to say to each other.

Tala tried to think of something to talk about, but his usually abundant courage was fleeing him. What do you say to Kai Hiwatari anyway? 'So, here we are in your deranged grandfather's basement…' Not likely.

"So…" he started, realizing he didn't really know what he wanted to say afterwards.

Kai raised an eyebrow and looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Yes?"

Tala sighed in frustration. "Look, about that whole thing back at the Worl—

"Forget it."

Surprise flittered across Tala's face, but was gone once he gained his composure. "What?"

"Forget it. It doesn't matter anymore."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? I—

"It was no one's fault but Voltaire's, Tala. Don't worry about it. We've got bigger problems right now."

"But—

"I said _forget it_," Kai said firmly. Tala was silent after that. Kai was never the easiest person to talk to. More like the hardest.

Tala was suddenly aware of voices. They both stopped and got low to the ground, hoping not to be seen should anyone walk by. Tala peered around the corner, and saw a door open a ways down the hall. Bird-like screeches leaked from the room, as well as frantic shouts in Russian and the slamming of the door to muffle the sounds of distress.

Tala looked back at Kai with a smirk. Kai looked at him with an identical one. They'd found what they were looking for.

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"Ok, what kind of evil organization has absolutely no phones?! I mean, phones are a necessity even in the non-evil organizations! How do they call they call their victims' families and verbally torture them with no phones? Do they go down to the gas station and use a payphone or something? This is ridiculous!"

"Max, you're talking _really_ loud."

"I give up! We're gonna have to leave if we have any hope of contacting the _normal _world."

Rei cupped his chin in one hand. He had never seen Max quite this distressed. It reminded him a lot of Tyson. Usually Max was more level-headed than this. More level-headed than Tyson, anyway.

"Do you remember where the front door is?" he asked.

"Oh, come on, Rei! They have to have more than one door. A back door, at least. That would be the normal, smart, and not to mention _sane _thing to do. But then that would constitute them having to actually make something easy, which would go against their evil dictator code of ethics! And we can't have _that."_

Rei sighed. This was impossible. He grabbed Max by the arm and began pulling him down the hall. "Come on, let's go find their back door."

"But Rei, they don't have back doors. Or phones. Or even adequately-lit hallways! What makes you think they'd have a—

He was cut off when Rei pushed open a door, revealing across a stretch of lawn Moscow in all its wonder.

"Found it."

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"Look, a door," said Suki, pointing to a set of ridiculously large doors.

Stephania followed Suki's finger. "Why yes, Suki, that _is _a door. If you can spell it for us, I'll give you a special sticker."

Suki narrowed her eyes. "Don't be a bitch."

"Don't cuss. It makes you sound trashy."

"_Anyway," _she continued. "Do you notice anything different about that door?"

Stephania looked at it again. The set of doors were made of elaborately carved wood, its two golden curved door handles winking at them in the gleam of the overhead lights.

"Yes. It's much prettier than the other doors."

"I have a feeling it's Voltaire's office," Suki explained.

"So," began Tyson, "who wants to go in first?"

Stephania boldly walked up to the doors without even blinking and, very carefully, opened one door a crack. She winced as it creaked slightly, but heard no response that anyone had heard anything on the other side. She peered in, and laughed slightly at what she saw.

Voltaire lay on a rather expensive looking couch, asleep. He was snoring quite loud, she could hear now. Every now and then he would snort or mumble in his sleep, then slump into another position. On the ground next to him were several empty vodka bottles. The old man had obviously been celebrating his little victory, and had no idea his plans were being torn apart once again. She turned back to the others.

"It's ok, he's gone and drank himself into oblivion."

"Oh I have to see this," said Suki excitedly, running up the door. She looked in, and covered her mouth with one hand to muffle her laughs. Tyson joined them.

"Where do you think he keeps that wacky control thingy we're looking for?" he asked.

Stephania looked back into the large room, and a grimace crossed her face. "I have a hunch." Suki and Tyson were silent, signaling for her to continue. "Well, judging from what I've seen, I'm pretty sure he keeps in his back pocket, which means…"

"One of us is going to have to go pocket diving in his…"Tyson trailed off. Suki looked disgusted.

"Oh my God, no!" she exclaimed, looking about ready to throw up right where she was standing. Tyson shuddered.

"Who's gonna…?" he asked, frowning deeply.

Stephania looked at Suki. "Sorry, but—

"WHAT?!"

"Suki, be quiet!" she whispered harshly.

"No way in _HELL_!"

"Well I'm not doing it! As much as I hate to admit it, the guy's _related to me." _

"I don't care! Make Tyson do it!"

"Um, how about no?! I'm a dude, Suki. That's almost as bad as Steph's situation."

"Why don't you think about pocket diving in your grandpa's pants, Tyson, and rethink how close our 'situations' really are."

"I'm not doing it!" yelled Suki before Tyson had a chance to reply. Stephania didn't even bother trying to reason with her, she simply grabbed the girl by the shoulders, pushed her into the room, and shut the door.

"You guys!" she yelled, pounding on the door. "This isn't even remotely fair! Are you listening to me? Guys? Guys!"

Suki turned around to face the not only sleeping, but drunk, Voltaire, an unintended pout on her sulking face. She let out a little whine, then crept toward the couch quietly. Which didn't make any sense, really, because if he hadn't awakened from her little tantrums, it was safe to say he wasn't going to wake up now. Still, she treaded carefully.

Once she got close enough to reach his pocket, she stretched out her hand, preparing to search for the control, despite how wrong it was and how badly scarred she was going to be afterwards. Voltaire snorted and shifted in his sleep, causing Suki to pull her hand back like he had tried to bite it off. She waited a moment for him to settle back in, when a thought dawned on her. She could end it right now. She could take his life, and it would be over. But this man didn't deserve to die in his sleep, thinking everything was going right for him. He deserved to die slowly and painfully, in the face of utter defeat and humiliation. Besides, she wouldn't take that earned right away from Kai. It was his place to decide what to do with the man, not hers.

Turning her focus back to the task at hand, she reached out her arm again. "Eeeewwww…" she whined under her breath as her hand slid into his back pocket. "God, this better be the right one, 'cause I ain't checking both sides."

Her hand came across a credit card-thin piece of plastic, and without even thinking she wrenched it out of the pocket and took off running out the door, not even bothering to look back or check to see exactly what it was she was holding.

Stephania and Tyson had to back-peddle away from the door as Suki flew out of them, dropping what looked like a piece of plastic on the floor and shaking her hands, trying to rid herself of the grossest thing she had ever done in her life. Stephania bent down to pick it up and, straightening, examined it.

"Looks like the right thing to me," she said, pocketing it. "Way to take one for the team, Suki."

Suki looked like she was about to cry or throw up or both. "I hate you."

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Tala and Kai watched as the scientists left the room, shaking their heads and making angry gestures. "Looks like they gave up on your bitbeast," observed Tala. Kai didn't say anything, instead watching to make sure they didn't lock the door. They didn't. Kai scoffed.

"Figures," he said softly. "They probably see no reason to even try safeguarding anything anymore, assuming they thing we're dead."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Tala pointed out. "For us, anyway."

Kai wasted no more time for words, running to the door and opening it slowly, just to make sure no one else was in the room. When he was sure it was safe, he flung the door open and hurried inside, Tala following behind.

Dranzer was still in his bizarre cage, looked sullen and defeated. The spirit glowed with fire and otherworldly energy inside its metal prison. Kai wondered how Voltaire could manage to invent something so advanced, it could house something with no physical being, but he couldn't even manage keeping track of a few teenagers.

"Dranzer," he whispered. The fiery bird looked at him, making a happy sound at the sight of his master.

"Don't worry, I'll get you back." He took out his beyblade, the chip in the middle now blank, and launched it, hoping it would call Dranzer back into the blade. Nothing happened.

"The cage," said Tala. Kai looked at it. The bars glowed green. Some sort of barrier was put up to prevent him from leaving it. That would be easy enough to solve. The cage was hooked to the computer, which meant the program being sent to it was controlled by the computer. Turn off the computer, turn off the barrier.

Kai walked over to the wall and pulled out the plug from one of the sockets. The computer let out a whine as it died. The green glow on the bars flickered, then disappeared, no longer being fed information from the computer. Dranzer let out a sound of approval, and Kai could have sworn he saw the bitbeast smile as it returned to the still spinning blade. He held out his hand and it spun up to meet him. Kai looked down at the chip nestled in the folds and layers of blue metal. A red phoenix shone on its surface.

'_It's good to have you back.' _

"Now that that trying experience is over, can we go now?"

Kai nodded, and he followed Tala out of the room, satisfied in knowing that he had saved at least one part of his life before it could be corrupted by his sadistic grandfather.

"Let's go find the others and get this the hell over with."

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Stephania, Suki, and Tyson were walking briskly, doing their best not to look any more inconspicuous than they already did, but still cover a desired amount of ground.

"Where _are _they?" asked Tyson.

"I have no idea," Stephania replied, her eyes searching for any signs of the other two boys. "They could be anywhere, really. Anywhere Voltaire decides to hide Dranzer."

"Well, thanks for narrowing it down," murmured Suki dryly.

Stephania was about to reply when she heard echoes of footsteps, and not their own. Not having anywhere to hide, the three were practically sitting ducks if they were caught now. Tyson pulled out Dragoon, ready to unleash an assault if the person, or person_s_, meant them harm.

He lowered his blade with a sigh of relief when Tala and Kai walked around the corner, the two taken aback for a moment, not expecting to have found them so easily. The relief was short-lived however, as the wail of a siren met their ears.

"Looks like Voltaire's awake," observed Suki.

"Let's go!" Tala urged, grabbing her by the arm and running full out, the others at his heels. "We have to get out of here!" He yelled back to them. Suki wrenched her arm out of his grasp, perfectly capable of running for her life by herself. After a time, their ears ringing from the volume of the sirens, they came upon a large open area they all recognized as the main entry way. Large stone pillars ran along the edges of the walls. One was positioned in the center, creating two arcs made of stone that ran up the ceiling on either side and connected with the opposite pillars. Lights flashed red on every wall, bathing them in their crimson glow.

They finally made it to the doors, but when Kai and Tala pulled on them, they wouldn't budge.

"It's locked!" yelled Tala.

"What do we do?!" Stephania yelled back. Suddenly the sirens stopped, though the echoes of their ringing still vibrated in the teens ears.

"Here is what you will do," said a cold voice from behind them. "You will give me back what you have taken from me, then kill yourselves if you don't want me to do it for you."

They turned around to see Voltaire standing before them, obviously hung over if not still completely drunk. There was no sly smirk on his face like the last time they had been in this position, no look of satisfaction of having caught them. Just rage. Pure, unadulterated rage. Stephania reached into her pocket and grasped the plastic control tightly, horror present on her features. The man looked absolutely terrifying.

His deranged, bloodshot eyes turned to her. "So, you're the one who has it, eh." He began a quick stride toward the teenage girl. The look of horror intensified. "You're the little bitch that snuck into my office while I was asleep, weren't you?!"

Before any of them could react he had her pinned up to the wall by her throat with one hand, the other hand jerking her hand out of her pocket, revealing the stolen technology. Voltaire twisted her wrist until she let it fall on the floor with a _'slap'_, simultaneously dropping her to the floor as well. He picked up his stolen control while his granddaughter gasped for air and grasped at her abused neck. Suki ran to her side to aid her ailing friend.

"So, this is how it's going to be, eh, Kai?"

Kai didn't answer, the look in his eyes saying enough. Voltaire's laugh echoed through the room. "There's that undying spirit I've been trying to break for years. Right there," Voltaire lifted a shaking finger to point at Kai, "in your eyes." He closed the distance between them, grabbing Kai's chin so hard he was sure it'd leave bruises and slammed him into the door. The handle dug into his back painfully. As Voltaire's hands moved from his chin to his neck, Tala tried to pull the drunken man away from his friend. He swatted him away like he was nothing, causing him to hit his head on one of the pillars. The young blader slunk to the floor in a broken heap.

Voltaire turned his attention back to his grandson. The boy was squirming and kicking against his grip, but it did him no good. As old (and not to mention drunk) as he was, the man could still overpower him easily. Voltaire tightened his grip and slammed the boy's head into the door. Kai's struggles visibly weakened, spots exploding in front of his eyes.

"I warned you," Voltaire hissed through clenched teeth. "I warned you about what would happen to your little friend if you fought against me."

"No," he managed to choke out. He was vaguely aware of the girls calling out to him, but his hearing, as well as his other senses, were fading rapidly with the lack of oxygen.

"Oh yes, young Kai." One of his hands left the choking boy's neck to grasp the thin plastic device.

"Please…don't…"

Voltaire didn't even give him a self-satisfied smirk. "You knew the consequences."

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Max and Rei, having contacted the local police force, clamored out of the police car that had driven them back to the Abbey, accompanied by several other cars as well, and a firearms van. Soon this would all be over. Soon they would go home and have nothing to worry about. Soon—

Rei suddenly dropped to the ground, letting out a cry of pain.

"Rei!" yelled Max, falling to his friend's side. He was clutching his stomach, a look of utter agony plaguing his features.

"Max," he gasped. As if that one word stole the rest of his strength from him, the Chinese teen collapsed onto his side.

"Oh God. Rei?" His eyes fluttered back open and rested on the friend beside him.

"Vol…taire…" he managed to say before his eyes slid shut again.

"Rei, please no! Stay awake!" Max shook his shoulders, and the teen's eyes opened slightly again. Max could feel tears welling up in his eyes at the sight of his friend in such pain.

"Help Kai…Max…please…" Rei pleaded. They had to get the others out. Forget about him. If the others didn't get out soon, there was no doubt Voltaire would kill them. He could hear the police kicking and pounding at the doors, but to no avail. They shouted warnings, but no one seemed to listen to them.

Max took a hold of his friend's hand, foolishly hoping it would anchor him there. "Rei…please. Fight it." By now the tears were flowing freely. It wasn't supposed to end like this! They were all supposed to get out safe, together. This wasn't supposed to happen….

Rei smiled at him, and Max's stomach dropped to his knees. "Max—

"No!"

"—bye." Rei's eyes fell shut, and Max felt the grip on his hand loosen, then fall away completely.

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"NO!"

Kai kicked out as hard as he possibly could, nailing his grandfather right in the chest. The man dropped him and fell to his knees, gasping for air. Kai fell on the hard stone floor next to Stephania with the release of his neck. She was still breathing heavily from her encounter with Voltaire. Suki was seated beside her but said nothing, her features twisted in fear.

Kai turned his attention away from the girls when Voltaire began to recover. The look of madness on his face as he pulled himself off the ground trained itself on him, and Kai felt a knot of cold dread work its way into his throat.

Voltaire began laughing, but it wasn't his usual I'm-so-evil-I'm-going-to-take-over-the-world-or-kill-a-lot-of-people-trying laugh. It was just…It was mad, is what it was. A laugh borne from the insanity that was Voltaire Hiwatari, insanity that Kai had always known was there, but had never shown itself this clearly till now.

"You know what your problem is, Kai?" he asked tauntingly.

'My_ problem?'_ he thought. _'When was the last time you checked yourself in the psychological mirror?'_ On the outside, however, he remained silent.

"You care too much," the man continued. Kai was taken aback. Out of all the possible things he could have said, this was the debilitating, heartbreaking answer he pulled out? Kai wasn't quite sure how to react, so he didn't. Voltaire continued his rant anyway.

"Just like your mother, really. She cared way too much. She cared about you, about that little bitch over there," Voltaire pointed to Stephania, "about everyone. People who care are so easy to manipulate, to mold, to _kill_," Kai's fists clenched so hard at his sides they shook, "that you just can't help but take advantage of them. It's just _so easy._ And do you know why?"

Kai didn't answer.

"It's because they care so much, all you have to do is find out what you have to threaten to shoot in the head, so to speak, to get them to do what you want. Their weaknesses, if you will. You have mounds of weaknesses, young Kai, whether you accept that or not."

"You better have a point old man," Kai threatened. He didn't like where this conversation was going, or where it had already gone.

"My point is, one of your little friends is dead," Kai's eyes widened, Suki gasped softly, and Tyson cursed shakily under his breath. "And I can count 1…2…3…4 more little weaknesses in this room right now."

"You bastard," he ground out, trying his hardest not fling himself on Voltaire and tear the man's head off where he stood.

Voltaire laughed that demented laugh of his again. "Just like she was, right before I blew her worthless brains out. Waste of bullets, really. Maybe I should have just tossed her off the roof. A bit messier, but cheaper, at any rate." 

Kai shook with anger. "Shut the fuck up."

"Kai…don't," coaxed Tyson. He could see his friend was about to loose it, and if that happened, the best case scenario would be that Kai was the only one on the receiving end of a bullet. Which wasn't much of a best case scenario to begin with. It did no good, though. Kai snapped.

With a howl composed of pain, anger, and sadness, he launched himself at Voltaire, pinning the older man to the ground with his knees. Kai was numb, barely aware that he was knocking his grandfather's face into the ground so hard his knuckles were bleeding. The others yelled at him across the room, not daring to try and restrain him in his current state, but Kai heard none of it. He only focused on one thing, and that was causing the man who had caused him so much sadness as much pain as he possibly could.

Voltaire fumbled to get the 9-millimeter off his belt, but it was proving a difficult task with his grandson literally trying to tear him to pieces. Kai, realizing what he was doing, slammed his fist as hard as he could into Voltaire's hand and snatched to gun away from him. Voltaire fought back however, and kneed the boy in the stomach. Kai gasped in pain and his grip loosened, allowing Voltaire to seize control of it again.

It went on like this for a while, each fighting back and forth for the weapon that would decide their fates. Each was bruised and bloody, and all the other three teens could do was watch. Suki and Stephania were crying, and Tyson was screaming at Kai to stop. Tala, still unconscious, was oblivious to the chaos around him.

Then—

"BANG!"

Both bodies slumped to the ground, and an eerie silence filled the room. There was blood on the floor but no one was quite sure who it belonged to. Everyone was quiet as Kai pulled himself onto his knees, clutching his left arm. It had only been grazed. Suki let out a sob of relief.

Voltaire was beginning to pull himself together as well. He looked at Kai, who looked just about as deranged as he did, but for different reasons. Voltaire was certifiably insane. Kai was just really angry.

Suddenly the room got extremely hot in a short amount of time. Kai's eyes were ablaze with fury, and you could literally see the heat rolling off of him. Flames came out of nowhere, encircling the two and lighting the room up like a candle. Voltaire looked positively scared for the first time in a long time.

Kai was seething. "This is it, Voltaire," he said in the most menacing voice any of them had heard him use. "I wont let you hurt anyone anymore." The flames intensified, and the others had to scoot back to escape their painful touch. Stephania pulled Suki up and together they ran to Tala, in case they had to shield him from the flames. Tyson stayed behind.

"Kai, stop!" he yelled over the hissing and crackling of the supernatural fire. "I know what you're feeling! I know you want to kill him! Hell, we all do! But this isn't the way to do it! If this place burns, we, along with all the other innocent people here, are going with it! Think about what you're doing!"

But Kai didn't seem to hear him. The flames continued to grow, and soon banisters from the ceiling were crashing down upon them. Suki screamed as one fiery beam came a little too close for her liking.

Voltaire, obviously not happy with the outcome of the situation, tried to restrain Kai, but the heat coming from the boy was too much for him.

"Do you think this will change anything!" he yelled over the flames. "You'll still be as weak as you were before! Your friend will still be dead! And what's more, you're taking the rest of them down as well! You can kill me if you want, boy, but it will make you no more less of a coward then you are now! You'll have to live forever with the knowledge of what you've done, and I'll still win!"

Sweat ran down Kai's face, leaving streaks on his ash-covered face. "You're wrong."

Voltaire just looked at him. "You're wrong! You're the coward, using other people, using my friends, using _me_, just to get what you're too weak to get yourself! I've never been sure of what you really wanted, but I'm not going to let you keep doing this to people! You're going to die, and I'm going to live, and forget all about you and your sick twisted mind. Do you know what that means?"

Voltaire didn't answer.

"It means I win." The flames consumed the two of them, and were working their way to the room's other occupants.

"KAI!" yelled Tyson at the top of his lungs. He felt himself being pulled towards the door. He caught sight of Tala, who the girls must have finally gotten to wake up. Stephania kicked the door with more force than he had ever seen a girl use before. The locked door caved under the blow, not to mention the fire that had weakened it considerably.

"We have to get out of here!" someone yelled.

"NO! We can't leave him here!"

Stephania, her hair sticking to her face with sweat, looked back into the burning room. "You go!" she commanded. "I'll find him."

"Steph, no!"

But she took no heed to their warnings and ran back into the sea of fire. She pulled her shirt over her nose and mouth, coughing as soot and ash crawled into her throat.

"Kai!" she yelled over the roars and crackles. She received no answer.

Stephania continued her search for her brother. She was beginning to panic. The room was falling in on top of her, and he was nowhere in sight.

Then, all of a sudden, he jumped out at her, grabbing her hand and running with it. "Why didn't you answer me?!" she chided angrily. But Kai said nothing. All he could think about was getting out of this hell before it consumed him completely. He ran through the smoke and flames, searching frantically for the door. He saw nothing but red. Red and black, stinging his eyes and stealing his breath away.

Just when he was about to lose hope, a patch of blue stood out against the red and black.

'_The sky…' _Kai thought vaguely, and ran for it. It was only when he stumbled out of the fiery prison that he realized Stephania was no longer with him. Firemen grabbed at his shoulders, trying to pull him away from the burning Abbey. He wrenched himself free of them and ran back through the door. He wouldn't leave her there. Not here. Not in this horrible place. He heard someone calling his name, felt someone try to grab his shirt, but ignored it. He had to get her back out.

Kai ran through the fire once more, his panicked eyes darting from left to right, desperately looking for some sign of her. Behind him the beams of the door shuddered and fell, blocking his only way out. The smoke and heat beat against him, threatening to steal his life away from him right then.

Kai had a choice. He could try to escape, or he could continue looking for Stephania, risking losing himself to the flames. He thought about it, than made the hardest decision he would ever have to make.

Kai turned around and fled to the blocked exit. The burning wood cracked and spurted menacingly. He tried moving the beam with his foot, but it was way too heavy. He kicked at it as hard as it could, but still no result.

'_This is it,' _he thought. _'This is how it ends.'_

No…He couldn't let it end this way. He wouldn't let it end this way.

Fueled by nothing more then adrenaline and the remnants of Dranzer's power, he ducked under the fallen beam and began pushing it up with his back. His back burned and peeled, and his hands blistered under the fatal kiss of the flames he'd created.

Kai couldn't suppress a cry of sheer agony as he threw the beam away, and crawled, exhausted, through a small opening in the doorway. Once he was out, he ran as far as his worn and wounded legs could carry him before collapsing in a heap on the ground. For the first time, he noticed the tears working their way down his cheeks. He cried for Rei. He cried for his sister. He cried for his mother. He cried for Tyson, for Suki, for Tala, for Max. He cried for himself, and the unfairness of it all.

Someone placed an oxygen mask over his face, and Kai could feel it pumping clean air into his body. He tried to tell them to stop. He didn't deserve air. He didn't even deserve to live. He tried weakly clawing it away from his face, but someone held his burned hands down.

Kai looked up into what looked like Tyson's face, but he wasn't sure. The smoke and tears had made it near impossible to see. Knowing Tyson was there, though, made him realize that at least some of his friends had gotten out safe. At least he was able to save someone…

Tyson's voice met his failing ears. "It's over," it said, "Everything will be ok. It's over, it's all over."

It's all over…He should be happy, he realized. But he wasn't. He hadn't saved her. He hadn't saved Rei. And he'd have to live with that, forever, just like Voltaire had said.

"It's all over," he heard Tyson say one more time before totally losing himself to oblivion.

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(Bangs head on the desk as she passes out from exhaustion) Damn…That was the longest thing I've ever written. I'm thinking maybe one more chapter after this. Oh my God. This story's almost done! My first story, almost done! Who else is going to cry when it's over? Yeah, I probably won't cry either. When I started this chapter yesterday, I was on page seven. This chapter is 19 pages long. So yeah. I hope the mind-blowing length of this thing will make up for the fact that I haven't updated since March.

Oh, yeah, and about Rei….Please don't kill me! The story isn't over yet! I have plans, BIG PLANS! No one need worry!

And about Kenny, yes, I know he's been absent. I also know where he is and when he's coming back. So don't even worry. I've got this totally…somewhat….kinda under control.

See ya!

PS: Forgive any typos and/or unanswered reviews. I really just want to get this up for you guys as soon as possible so just bear with me, k?


	29. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Don't own it**

_I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next_.—Gilda Radner

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The aftermath of tragedy effects different people in different ways, but the moment you are in it, the moment it happens to you, is always the same. Everything is just a surreal whorl of voices and faces and images in your head that you can't get out no matter how hard you try to forget them. Your world turns upside down in a matter of seconds, and it's at that point that you realize your life will never be the same.

Kai had experienced this feeling before; it was in no way new to him. Somehow, though, every time it happened resurfaced old feelings of fear and confusion. These were not Kai's trademark emotions, and every time they came about he always felt awkward, and could never figure out quite what to do with himself.

His mind was still replaying scenes from when it happened over and over again. Kai could see the bright lights of the ambulance, feel the heat of the flames still billowing from the abbey, hear the strange voices intermingled with a familiar one—Tyson's, maybe?—cutting through his consciousness. He knew he would never forget that day as long as he lived.

**Flashback **

_Kai had remembered falling unconscious, Tyson's voice still ringing in his head, only to be brought back roughly to reality from the immense pain he experienced when the paramedics had tried to move him. Kai had experienced pain before, but nothing like this. His back was a mess of third degree burns, which normally wouldn't have caused him so much agony, as at least half of the time the nerve endings are destroyed, but obviously some of his were still intact. _

_Just the slight shift they had made in his position to try and lift him onto the stretcher had been enough to send knives of searing hot pain through his body. He had cried out sharply when they had rolled him onto his side, the sweet nothingness that had been his unconsciousness forcefully wrenched from his grasp. Suddenly a familiar presence was at his side, whispering words of encouragement. The someone grabbed his had, and even though the gesture hurt, as his hands were slightly burned as well, he did not pull away. He wouldn't have had then energy even if he had wanted to. _

_Kai opened his eyes as best he could, and could just make out Tyson's face sliding in and out of focus. He was crying, he could see, now that some of the haze had cleared from his eyes. Fat tears ran down the curves of his cheeks, leaving little trails behind them on his soot-stained face._

"_Hey buddy, hangin' in there?" he asked, attempted humor lacing his words. _

_Kai didn't answer, instead focusing beyond Tyson. There was fire and smoke and ash everywhere. Frantic firemen, along with paramedics with stretchers in tow, scurried about the scene. Their movements were illuminated red from the burning building beside them as they gathered up as many injured as they could cram into an ambulance at one time. Static met his ears as they paged for more back-up, the screams of the dying melding into a sorrowful serenade in the background. Ash rained down on them like snow, black as an angry sea on a dark moon-less night. _

_One particular voice cut through all the noise and found it's way to Kai, shifting his tragic train of thought. _

"_Ken…ny?" he managed to rasp out, his voice hoarse from smoke inhalation. When had Kenny got here? Wait…when had Kenny even left?_

_Tyson's dirty face met his. "Kenny?" he repeated in a voice thick with tears. "Oh, yeah. He left a while back to go find help from the hospital. I don't even think any of us noticed him leave." He broke of when Kai fell into a weak coughing fit, the smoke that had lodged it's way into his throat burning horribly. Tyson's features filled with worry and fear. _

"_Kai, just hold on for a while, ok? We're gonna get you outta here soon. Can you do that for me?"_

_Kai ignored the question, his thoughts elsewhere. If Kenny was here, then where was everyone else? Suki? Tala? Max? Rei…? Was Rei even still alive? And what about…._

"_Steph?" _

_More tears found their way down Tyson's face. "I'm sorry, buddy, I'm so sorry." _

_At that moment every sound around him disappeared. All he could hear was white noise filling his ears. She was gone. And Rei might have gone right along with her. Desperately, Kai focused on their connection, the connection that had been formed through their bitbeasts. He felt the horrible sensation of it being cut in half, leaving him with a gaping hole. He had been hoping that maybe, somehow, she had made it out alive. He had known, however, from the moment her hand had slipped from his, that there would be no turning back. _

_It was all his fault. Everything….everything was because of him. And what about….Oh God, what about all the people that had been in the abbey at the time? All those children? Innocent children. All dead. Because of him. _

_Kai felt the tickle of salty tears tracing their way down the sides of his face, pulled by gravity. He was so sick of it. Sick of the pain and the loss, and sick of the feeling that no matter what happened to him, no matter how hard he tried, everything always turned out horribly wrong. _

_Kai closed his eyes, not even wanting to remain conscious anymore. He wanted to forget. He wanted to just go to sleep and wake up and not remember a thing. Knowing that was never going to happen tore him apart. _

_Finally, he couldn't take anymore, and let himself sink into oblivion, the sound of Tyson's voice still pleading with him to stay awake echoing in his ears._

**End Flashback**

They hadn't let him out of the hospital for two months. Half of that was spent on his stomach, as his back was too severely burned for any pressure to be applied unto it. Rei had nearly bled to death, but had been rushed to the ER just in time to be brought back. Tyson and Max experienced some third degree burns and minor smoke inhalation, but recovered quickly after seeing their parents, who had turned up outside the stadium in Japan with no recollection of anything that had happened after the world tournament. Suki had escaped with her left side badly blistered, leaving her with the painful, annoying, and downright disgusting sensation of having one of them pop every time she moved, and Tala had come out with a concussion. Stephania, of course, had not come out at all.

They had never found her body, not even her charred remains. Kai wasn't sure how that was even possible, and it left him with the overwhelming need for closure that he would never get. They had, however, found Voltaire's body, but he found he could really care less about having closure for his dead grandfather. All he needed was the piece of mind that the man would never be able to haunt him again.

Being bed-ridden in the hospital for eight weeks gave a person a lot of time to think, something that Kai had no desire to do, especially since he knew exactly where his mind would go if he allowed it to wander. It was made even longer since the doctors had to work long hours to clear him and Rei of the virus that Kenny had discovered was in their bodies.

The pain Kai had felt when he'd realized that she was really, truly gone, had been greater than any he had ever experienced. He hadn't even gotten to know her as well as he should of, and yet it felt like someone was ripping his heart out whenever he though about it. Just knowing that if he hadn't been around, if he had never existed, none of it would have ever happened. No one would have gotten hurt, no one would have…died. And it was then that he realized that everyone he had ever come into contact with would have been much better off if he had never existed.

His friends had consistently told him that what he was thinking was utterly ridiculous, that no one had held a gun to their heads the entire time, and that they had acted on their own accord. None of them had made him feel any less worthless.

Except, that is, one person, but then again, she always had had a way with making things seem a lot simpler than they actually were.

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Two figures stood in front of two matching headstones, one worn and eroded with time, one new and brightly shined, every detail etched into it completely visible. One figure, a girl, knelt down in between the two graves. She placed flowers on each of their bases and bowed respectfully. Then she turned her face, filled with grief, back up to the two headstones, her short black hair dancing around her face. She pulled her white woolen overcoat closer two her body when a cold wind blew over the cemetery as she observed the names delicately carved into the marble.

_**Anya Richelle Hiwatari 1973-1991**_

_**Stephania Aislinn Hiwatari 1989-2007 **_

"You want to say goodbye, Kai?" she asked.

The boy, Kai, simply stared at the two slabs of rock blankly, his hands, unclenched, hanging at his sides.

"Don't know why they even gave her a headstone," he finally muttered. "It's not like there's a body under it."

"Closure?" the girl suggested.

Kai turned his gaze to her, his eyes no longer blank, but shining with emotions he hadn't used for a long time. "Why does this keep happening, Suki?" he whispered.

Suki shrugged. "It's life, I guess."

"Life is fucked up."

She half laughed at the comment, as it was the only semi-humorous thing he'd said in…well…forever.

"I shouldn't be here."

Suki looked up at him, slightly confused. "Why not? You're related to them."

"That's not what I meant, Suki."

She sighed heavily and stood up, turning to face him. "Stop it. Just stop it right now. Nobody blames you, Kai. _Nobody. _And I'm sure, if both of them were here right now, they'd say the same thing."

"They would be if—

Suddenly and surprisingly, before Kai could even react, Suki's arms were around him and her head was resting on his shoulder. Not quite sure what to do, he awkwardly stood with his arms at his sides, waiting for her to say something, a look of shock still fluttering across his face.

"We all did this for you, because we wanted to. Why can't you understand that? Your mother, Stephania, everyone, all did what they did because they wanted you to live and be happy. How are you going to do that if you think your life is worthless?"

She paused for a moment, and Kai got the weird feeling that she was crying.

"I don't want you to live like this anymore, Kai," she said, her voice heavy with emotion. "I want you to be happy for once, especially now that you actually have the chance to. Could you do that for me?"

She pulled away from him so she could look him in the eye. "And if not for me, do it for them, because they gave away their chance so you could have yours. Please."

She searched his face as she waited for an answer, looking for some sign that she had gotten through. But, instead of answering her flat out, he embraced her back, the most contact he'd had with anyone since his mother, and Suki knew she couldn't have asked for a better answer from him even if she tried.

They stayed like that for a while, before pulling away as it began to snow, little flakes catching on their hair and clothes. Kai turned back to the headstones, a powdery coat beginning to cover the ground before them.

"First snowfall of the season."

Kai turned to Suki, who was looking up at the sky.

"What?"

She tore her attention away from the snow that was dancing down from heaven and repeated, "It's the first snowfall of the season."

Kai looked upwards where Suki had been staring before. "Is it?"

"Uh huh. It's a sign."

"Oh really?" asked Kai, not looking away from the sky above him.

"Yep," she replied, grinning. "Signifies a new beginning."

Kai continued to stare at the gray sky, watching the snowflakes spin lazily toward the earth. He thought of his mother, who hadn't let him go until her dying breath. He thought of Rei, who had nearly given his life twice for him, just to see him live. He thought of Tyson, who had stood up to Voltaire more than once, something most would never dare to do. He thought of Suki, who dropped her perfect life with her adoptive parents to be with him. He thought of Max, who took his mind off his missing mother to come and help him. He thought of Kenny, whom without no one would never have even known about the deadly virus inside him. And he thought of Stephania, who he had never really known on a personal level because of his stubbornness, but had still been willing to run into a burning building and die for him.

"Yes," he agreed finally. "Yes, it most certainly does."

They lingered there silently afterwards before turning, Suki's arm slung over his shoulder, to walk back to the hotel. Back to friends, back to family. Back to the end of one story, and the start of another.

_**The End**_

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Thank you so much to all of my reviewers:

love-of-fire, Kai Hiwatari1, Bluefirespirit, bladz-liska, UnpReDiCtAbLE lIfE, Desastrus, Imbalanced Angel, jellybean-kitty, Lola Clarkson, Miako6, d1bontemp, kavbj, SchoolBoredom, Shadow Lunis, american farmer, MiseryWriter, Ray-Tiger-Cat, whyamidoingthis01, XSilentX-ShadowsX, Imbalanced Angel, DancerInTheDark101, A victim of your lies, Rael-Lirdu, geniecat2, Zephyr Blue, Izolda, Dark Kaiser, RoseOfSharon28, Thiendrah, Keight Ylonen, Miss Strange, Kais-lil-lover, Redemberx, NeoDarkcloud, Dawn of Daylight, Fire Pheonix2, BloOdY-JoKeR, Cailany, RetaroO, sasukeuchida10, xx SceneKid17, Mimicking Karma, LadyOfTheBluePhoenix, kris the ninja pirate, CucumberPickles, starfiredevil, FlamingWolfGirl, YuriyTalaIvanov, Shizuka-Yuki, Meira Evenstar, snappa, Glitter-Cat91, WaitingForYesterday, The Wicked Witch of Ding!, LonelyAngel90, blazingfire03, storm-of-insanity, Jani Rieme, Enigma, Starflare, Pickle Reviver, raven2547, Scyithe, Moi-inconnue, The Reaper in Shadows, A Darker Hufflepuff, BeyMistress05, PhoenixMeredy93, hurtinphoenix, kenthomas, Bruna Aguino, Satsukiyami, VGMaster04, Demi-goddess – Queen of OCs, Liah-chan

Special thanks goes to:

**bladz-liska**, who translated my story into Spanish, and leaves me nice long reviews ; )

**RoseOfSharon28, **who gave me someone to talk to when my dad died, and gave me someone to relate to personally, since she has lost her mother.

**storm-of-insanity, **who made me that pretty picture!

**MiseryWriter, **who inspired me at a time when I seriously thought I was going to give up on this fic.

Thanks also goes out to my regular reviewers. You know who you are. Thank you!

**Also, because I've never heard of an author doing this and because I want to get to know my reviewers better, I thought I'd send you all a little survey that I'll have filled out when I get it, so you guys can learn a little about me too. If you want to, copy, paste, fill it out and send it back to me. If you don't want to then just ignore it or whatever. I really don't care. **

**  
It will just be like one of those email or myspace surveys you get sometimes. I just thought I'd be fun to do. Also, if you haven't reviewed and want me to send you one (though I don't know why you would) just PM me, and I'll send it to you.**

Thank you everyone for sticking with me through this whole thing. Looking back on this story I can tell I've matured a lot since I first wrote the first chapter in my notebook one day on a whim. I'm glad all you guys came along for the ride, and I am really, very sad to see this story end.

Signed,

Rei, your Asian for every occasion


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